14 replies to this topic

[Albino_Hedgehog]

Hello,

My lights (sidelights, headlights & dash lights) have suddenly stopped working, however the flasher does work!

I'm so confused with this now it is driving me crazy!

Last night I abandoned my car as the above problems had occurred,

I then had a text from a friend to say I had left my lights on! (No lights were on when I left the car)

I got back to the car switched them off and then tried to put them back on but to no avail!

I sorted a few other problems whilst checking fuses and connections (no issues here)

I returned a while later and found the lights were working again as they should do!

So all sorted!


Except it wasn't, as I was due to pick my partner up from the station at dusk, my lights once again decided to go AWOL!

At this point I decided it had got to be the switch so I pulled it out, and attempted to bridge the connection, (red to brown,, red to blue) both of which produced nothing!

All of a sudden I had out of nowhere my sidelight circuit running on the headlight flasher (stork switch) and was able to drive back hold this on!

Once arriving home all of my lights are now working as they should!! :@


Has anyone please got any ideas I am loosing my mind here!

I use the car a lot at night for work and in its current state that is impossible to do!

[CityEPete]

Loose connections on the brown wires on the left hand side of the fuse box, they corrode hidden inside the spade terminal tubes, the brown goes from the constant live on the starter solenoid to the fusebox, loops to the lighting rocker switch, red comes back to feed the bottom fuse for sidelights and dash, blue goes to the stork then dip/main beam unfused.

As you are losing the feed to the switch id say its at the fusebox.

[KernowCooper]

Have a look at what Pete said above, and check voltage into the switch to confirm.

I always remember one of my instructors at Lucas saying that when you have any electrical fault its always owing too................................................

[hhhh]

The Prince of Darkness?

[KernowCooper]

Well I have to say that the majority of cars I see are not component failure but just poor mantenance but the design of connection didn't help

[WiredbyWilson]

Comments removed - CityEPete seems to have everything covered and i'm not going to get into a debate that will not help the OP.

Edited by WiredbyWilson, 01 October 2015 - 07:43 AM.

[CityEPete]

^ he has already tried bypassing the switch to no avail, as the dash and sidelights front to back are earthed individually it's also unlikely to be the good old bundle of wires behind the grill hence my diagnosis that the positive to the brown isn't getting that far, the connection at the fusebox or possibly a dirty terminal on the starter solenoid are my favourites here still.


Which misconceptions are you talking about? I have looked at the wiring diagrams pre and post dim dip relay and this talk about front sidelights not being fused yet the rears and dash are is nonsense, I asked you to clarify it in a post a while ago but you never replied?

Pre dim dip,
Page 12.36 clearly shows the connection between front and rear sidelights fed from terminal 8 along with the panel lights both fed directly from fuse 7-8 fed directly from the red of the lighting rocker switch. 10&11 are front sides, 20&15 rear sides (tail lights), 13 number plate, 12s are the panels.

With dip dim,
page 12.38 clearly shows all the lights wired together, 52 rh tail, 53 lh tail, 51s number plates, 32 rh front side, 33 lh front side.

Fuel injected cars
rh tail and front side on line fuse 94
lh tail and front side, number plate line fuse 93
Both line fuses are fed directly from the red of the rocker switch.
The panel light must be on one of the fuses or another parallel line fuse missed off the diagram.

Looking as far back as the mid 70s the ONLY car with a connection before the fuse on the red from the rocker is the canadian model with illuminated switches.


I don't want to fall out over it and I bow to your wiring knowledge but I still think you are wrong on this one?

As the op hasn't given us a year there may be no dip dim here, what year is it op?

Edited by CityEPete, 30 September 2015 - 06:31 PM.

[WiredbyWilson]

Comments removed - CityEPete seems to have everything covered and i'm not going to get into a debate that will not help the OP.

Edited by WiredbyWilson, 01 October 2015 - 07:43 AM.

[CityEPete]

All I can say is I've never seen a mini with unfused front side lights as you suggest and I've owned a few! No wiring diagrams show it your way so I must have been lucky to own the only minis wired as the wiring diagrams?I'm a qualified electrician and serial classic car botherer so I do understand wiring and diagrams, until I see ANY evidence minis are wired as you say I can only give advice/work on my own cars to the methods I have seen first hand, they are not common misconceptions.

[CityEPete]

Here is my factory wired Mayfair with the bottom fuse out, exactly as the diagram killing one side front and rear side lights, the other will be on a line fuse. Its a carb car with an spi loom essentially as its a 1995 car, fused factory front side lights are not a common misconception.



I gave similar info on a previous thread with a pre dim dip standard city e tested where both fronts and all the dash,panel and number plates went off on the bottom fuse again as to the diagrams.

At best you need to change the "lets clear up some common misconceptions" to "I have seen some cars with unfused front sides", I haven't personally but I'm not calling you a liar, but, some and ime all minis with a 4 way fusebox or later at least have fused front sides.

Edited by CityEPete, 01 October 2015 - 06:56 AM.

[CityEPete]

no problem mr wilson, I don't like falling out and hopefully this sidelight thing can be put to bed as could be fused but might not be.

[Albino_Hedgehog]

Hey all,

 

Just to update the situation, 

 

 

I have clean off the connection behind the grill, and this seems to have sorted it. 

 

I now have all lights working as they should, apart from the headlight mainbeam/flasher indicator light, this is now unresponsive despite mainbeam and the flasher working correctly.

 

Thanks

[CityEPete]

The flasher is fed via a different circuit, I think you have knocked one circuit off and fixed the original problem at the same time, the dash panel lights and rear lights have their own earth and the feed goes backwards so cleaning the grill connection can't of fixed the rears/dash.

I think a good inspection of the fusebox and all the spade terminals is in order here or you will be back in the dark soon! Could be worth removing and cleaning the starter solenoid where all the browns meet.


Here's a thing the circuit you have lost is the same fuse carrier as the one where the permanent live comes in and sometimes out, second from top fuse left hand side how many browns have you got? Have you lost the horn and brake test switch on the dasht too?

Edited by CityEPete, 01 October 2015 - 06:19 PM.

[1963MKI]

All I can say is I've never seen a mini with unfused front side lights as you suggest and I've owned a few! No wiring diagrams show it your way so I must have been lucky to own the only minis wired as the wiring diagrams?I'm a qualified electrician and serial classic car botherer so I do understand wiring and diagrams, until I see ANY evidence minis are wired as you say I can only give advice/work on my own cars to the methods I have seen first hand, they are not common misconceptions.

 

 

arent the sidelights on a mk1 unfused ? just ressurecting this thread as im looking at my own at the minute.

[CityEPete]

All I can say is I've never seen a mini with unfused front side lights as you suggest and I've owned a few! No wiring diagrams show it your way so I must have been lucky to own the only minis wired as the wiring diagrams?I'm a qualified electrician and serial classic car botherer so I do understand wiring and diagrams, until I see ANY evidence minis are wired as you say I can only give advice/work on my own cars to the methods I have seen first hand, they are not common misconceptions.

arent the sidelights on a mk1 unfused ? just ressurecting this thread as im looking at my own at the minute.

Yeah that's a very different system with the voltage regulator and a dynamo. Even then there's no version I'm aware of that has fuses just for the rear side lights, they are just fed off the same red wire as the front ones.

Edited by CityEPete, 04 June 2020 - 12:48 PM.