5 replies to this topic

[Prawn]

hey guys
my rear lights have randomly stopped working today :S and i really cant find out why :S all the fuses on teh box are ok, and the front sidelights and main beam are working fine, yet the rear lights arnt on at all :S ive tried 3 sets of bulbs with no luck, and the brakelights are still working fine, its not making any sense :S
do the lights have a fuse on the fuse box? according to haynes its the bottom fuse, but when i pull the fuses out my front lights stay on :S which seems a bit wierd
im not overly ecletrical myself, so im having a pretty hard time finding the faults, nothing has been touched, they were on when i left home, and were not when i got to town 30mins later, i really dont understand it at all :S
ive traced along the under bonnet wires and nothing is any more bodged than usual :S
i need rear lights!!!!
help
please

[billtheminiman]

You need to check the wire push on tags, on the bottom fuse, they generally get corroded, and break off. But you cant see their broken, only by peeling back the sleeve to see the wire is broken for the rear lights/
Try pushing and pulling the cables on either side of the sleeve with the lights switch on, and get a friend to see if they come off and on at the back. as bad connetions are common there, due to bad weather etc= corrotion. Which has been leaking from the washer pipes, which go across the top.

If this is the problem, it maybe a good idea to pull off all the connections off the fuse box and either clean them up and re-tin them ( which is to re-soilder them top make them bright again). Dont forget these tags are held on via a little clip whcih u have to press donw by grippion the big spade, in the centre to disengage the tags, just pulling will not make them come off.. in the past people have pulled, and pulled off the tag completly off the fuse box.
Any bad connections especially on lights, which rely on a earth conection return to the battery are trouble some,as every thing works at 12V, so a small corroction stopping the voltage circulation is quite easily done.. Another example of this is when you see a dimmed light not as bright as usual, which is a bad earth. There isnt enough current going through the dodgy line, resulting in a dimm light.


Or you could just buy a new fuse box from DSL classics, listed on the wed- and very reliable and fast.


hope this helps? billtheminiman

[Prawn]

cheers bill, iv got a enw fuse box somewhere, ill replace it tomorow morning and see if that makes any difference, i had the problem of it rotting out before actually on the top fuse....
ill give it a shot
other than the fuse box, are there any other suspect areas? or earths that i should be checking related to the rear tail lights only? as everything else works fine

[cowboy]

apart from the fuse box, the only other likely spot is under the bonnet near the wiper box closest to the motor. as bill said corrosion can cause problems, so have a look to see how bad the corrosion is or if a wire has snapped!
hope you sort it soon

[billtheminiman]

The earth return leads for the back lights are actually on the bolt that holds the back light in, situated in the boot, on each light inside.

But to my recolection they havnt caused any problems. However do check out.

I think the bottom fuse, which is an 8amp this is for the sidelights, be certain that the backlight wires are connected onto the back of thsoe push on fuses...
other then a broken wire connected to the fuse box... connected to that fuse. nowhere else.

Tell us how it goes

billtheminiman

[Prawn]

hey guys, i fitted a new fuse box and its all sorted now
i am pretty confused tho, i know teh bottom fuse is for the lights, and the bottom fuse had actually been bypassed by an electrician a few months back as the board had rusted out :S no fuses had gone, but when i fitted the new fuse board they just worked :S
its very strange, but im happy again
cheers for the help
nick