16 replies to this topic

[monkey]

hello,

Got some electrical gremlins, brake test switch doesn't work and headlamps / flasher stalk are doing weird things :-/

Firstly, I found the following multiplug under the dash, looks like it should go to a switch?


This is the back of the brake test switch


And to top it all off I found a brown wire which has melted/burnt out in the engine bay wiring loom, traced it to behind the washer bottle and not found good wire yet and the other way traced it to behind the brake master cylinder and again haven't found good cooper yet, never replaced wires before, not looking forward to this!

[phil hill]

Ok the connector with no switch looks like it should be for the fog light. The switch should be in a separate switch panel on the right hand side of the steering wheel. The wiring you show in your second picture doesn't look right for the brake warning switch, that should be wires coloured black with a white trace. And any wire coloured brown is a permanent battery live, so it should connect between the solenoid and the fuse box or a master circuit like the starter relay circuit. You need to figure out what is going on, more photos, age make and model of your Mini would help us diagnose further.

Phil.

[monkey]

Family time today so don't know if I'll get to look much more today. It's a '87 998 (City E I believe)

My main worry is the melted live, presumably all I can do is keep ripping the loom tape off until I find either good wire or the end of the wire and replace the damage?

I tested the wires on the multiplug you say may be for the fog light and nothing was live, although presumably the light would need to be on for me to find a live? This may not be helped by the fact the headlight flasher isn't working and sidelights/dipped beam appear opposite / not working

The brake test switch... God knows lol

[monkey]

Does the above look more like brake test switch? It was wired onto the heated screen switch :-/

[monkey]

And one end of the melted cable ends here in this bunch of brown live wires...


I can't find the other end, it literally has disappeared :-/

[phil hill]

Does the above look more like brake test switch? It was wired onto the heated screen switch :-/

Yes those are the wires for the brake test switch.

The fog light should only work when the headlights are on dip beam, so nothing will be live on that plug till the headlights are on.

The group of browns you found probably run as follows: one brown up to the solenoid, one brown insde to the ignition switch, one to the headlight switch and one to the fuse box.

This is from memory you understand, so check and double check.

The headlight flash I seem to remember comes from a purple going from the fusebox, probably opposite the brown so its fused but live all the time, and should operate the horn and flash. I also seem to think the purple runs thr hazard flash circuit ?

I'll try to get sight of a wiring diagram tomorrow and check.

Phil.

[monkey]

So the brake switch seems to work with the heated screen switch so assume it's a bulb needed in the brake switch,

As for this brown wire, maybe this is why my flasher/lights is playing up?

That said horn works, hazards will work when I have a new flasher unit (tested with the Idicator flasher), so with a new flasher unit and brake switch it will just be the headlight flasher and headlights/side lights playing up.

Thanks for all your input so far, I'm new to tracing vehicle wiring faults!

Steve.

[phil hill]

The usual suspect for melting a brown is either the headlight switch or the ignition circuit, so check those first, but with only three its only a process of elimiation.

If you've got headlight issues check the headlight switch first, then the column stalk switch. What is the exact fault with the lights?

The brake test switch is weird anyway, the switch should be 'momentary' only, and is only there to test the bulb. If the lamp lights up at any other time its supposed to indicate a loss of brake fluid but in my experience they never work properly anyway.

Phil.

[monkey]

Well i cant remeber exactly what happens with the head lights, ill try and get out tonight and write it all down, but if i remember correctly, with the ignition off, i cannot get side lights, i only getting dipped beam (i assume its dipped, it may be full beam, hard to tell in the day light), also, with the ignition on, i can get dipped beam (no side lights, and again i assume its dipped, it may be full beam, hard to tell in the day light), but if i push the stalk away from me (to turn main beam on) everything goes out. Also, if i pull the stalk towards me, no flash, regardless of ignition or head light switch position.

 

Next time I get a chance to fiddle (either tonight or tomorrow) i will pop the headlight switch out and see what wires I have. So there should be a brown wire which is permanant live from the bunch of browns i pictured above?

 

Thanks again, I find it so hard to get my head around vehicle wiring,  I am a telecoms engineer, I only deal with one pair of wires!

 

Steve.

[phil hill]

Hi Steve.

 

Pull the headlight switch and have a look, check for obvious signs of melting on the plug and switch or burning or melting insulation of the wiring.  The headlight switch should have a thick brown, a thin-ish red and a thick blue wire.  The red is the side light circuit and the blue goes to the stalk switch.  

 

Now I have a wiring diagram in front of me, so the red from the headlight switch goes to the bottom fuse of the fusebox.  It goes in red and comes out red/green to the side lights.  Check the fuse is intact and making good contact and that should sort your side lights.  The Purple wire does work the horn and "flash" so if the horn works but the flash doesn't it either means there is a purple connection missing (although the wiring diagram shows both horn and "flash" connected to the same purple my own car has a working horn but no flash.........).  And if dip-beam works but main beam doesn't then it looks like your stalk switch is either damaged or burned out.  It's simple moving contacts, a bit like old-fashioned telephone exchange finger contacts, so if the contact is damaged, bent or burned it won't work !!

 

There is another caveat though, as your car may have the so-called "dim-dip" system fitted.  This has a pink colour relay module under the steering column, and a gold coloured 50watt resistor mounted to the body behind the radiator.  Check if you have those fitted as that may explain some of the weird behaviour of the lights, but if you are lucky your '87 City may just pre-date that system coming into force.

 

Phil.

[monkey]

Superb thanks for that reply, seems to make alot of sense! I will eithe rpop out tonight or tomorrow and have a fiddle with the meter, checking the above for continuity,  once i have played around i will report back :)

 

Thanks again,

 

Steve

[monkey]

Right so update: I have fixed the brake test switch - the bulb in the switch wasn't making contact - such a simple fix!!

Headlights - ignition off, they work as they should, I do have the pink relay, and so with ignition on, position 1 I get side lights and dim dip beam, position 2 I get dip beam, but if I push the stalk away from me, EVERYTHING goes out. And still no flash, so suspect stalk switch. Is this likely to be fixable or would it need a new stalk?

Also, orange oil pressure light doesn't work, I assumed this is because the terminal had broken off the switch on the engine, so I have put a new one in, there was a thin white/red wire hanging close by, so attached this up, still no orange light. Is this the right wire? If I earth this the Orange light should glow, this would tell me if the switch is knackered or not?

Thanks for reading my long post

Steve

[phil hill]

Hi again Steve.

 

So it sounds like the dim-dip circuit is working correctly from your description.  The fault with the main beam could well be a failed stalk-switch but before you commit to buying a new one check the headlamp connections under the bonnet slam-panel.  You will find a number of bullet-type wire connectors underneath where the bonnet catch is, and they do become corroded, damaged or disconnected.  Dip beam is Blue with a Red trace and Main or High beam is Blue with a White trace.  If all looks well under there, back-track up the wiring to the stalk switch and the connector at the bottom of the steering column cowling.  If you've got a Fluke or other Electrical test meter you can just about get a probe up the back of the connector to see if there is any voltage at the connector.  If there is none, then suspect the stalk switch.  You have to take the steering column cowling off to get to it, there are two obvious screws either side of the ignition key and a hidden one at the bottom of the cowling accessed from the right hand side as you sit in the drivers seat.  When you've got the cowling off you can see the stalk switches and just about see how the change-over mechanism works when you operate the main/dip beam switch.  

 

The oil pressure light should come on if you connect the wire to "ground" like onto the engine block.  The wire should be white with a brown trace, not red.  White with a red trace is for the starter relay mounted on the angled bulkhead stiffener panel to the left hand side of the engine bay as you stand in front of the car.

 

There are two different types of oil pressure switch, the Mini one is normally closed, and opens with oil pressure thus extinguishing the lamp.  The other was used on the ERA Mini Turbo (and the MG Metro Turbo amongst others) and operates in reverse i.e. normally open and closes with oil pressure.  The idea of this was to "switch off" the electric fuel pump in case of a loss of oil pressure, and the circuit for the oil pressure warning lamp and fuel pump is completely different to a "normal" Mini.  You would be unlucky to buy the wrong type of switch on the off-chance, but at least you now know what's what !!

 

Phil.

[monkey]

Lovely, thanks for the great response again, will poke around with the meter tomorrow, I did have a quick look at the bullet connections behind the slam panel last night, but it started to get dark lol.

 

As for the oil pressure, it might have been white/brown, it was getting dark and the wire was rather dirty  , again i shall have a better poke around tomorrow... feel as though one way or another I am getting there with these electrical issues!

 

Still need a new park switch for the wipers, and a switch for the rear fog light but getting there!

 

Thanks again,

 

Steve

[monkey]

Right so headlights sorted, started off by cleaning and "adjusting" the stalk switch, this made one headlight work, then fiddled behind slam panel and got the other one working. What is the best way to permanently sort the connections behind the slam panel? All I have done is pull it apart, clean the bullets and put it back together again!

This only leaves the oil pressure light... It definitely is a WHITE/BROWN so I'm confident it is the correct wire. I tried earthing the wire, still no orange light, presumably I should have 12v on this wire? There is no voltage at all at the moment. Im guessing the wire goes straight to the back of the gauges, so next job is to pull the dash out.

Thanks again for all you help/advice so far,

Steve