8 replies to this topic

[karl & his cooper]

I cannot get a full main beam when I swtich it on off the stalk instead all lights go of...only was at momment is to hold the flash part of the stalk constantly on... whats going wrong?

[Scruffs]

I cannot get a full main beam when I swtich it on off the stalk instead all lights go of...only was at momment is to hold the flash part of the stalk constantly on... whats going wrong?

When you say all the lights do you mean ALL the lights? Or just the dipped beams? When you push the stick forwasrd the dips should turn off and the fulls should come on, when you pull it back (ie flash) both the dips and the full should be on.

I haven't had this exact problem, but since they do actually flash, I'd say the wiring round the front of the car would be good, but you might have a faulty stalk switch?? Either that or a couple of wires may have fallen off between the light switch (on the lower dash) and the stalk switch...(I say the second one because the full beams shouldn't come on when the stalk is forward and the light switch is off)

Basically, you're probably best to get a test meter across some pins to figure out where its going wrong!

Hope that helps

al

[Ethel]

You should get either dipped or main, not both filaments lit. If the headlamp flash works it really suggests a problem with the indicator stalk if no relays are involved.

You can some times tweak the contacts a bit.

[Joef]

I took one apart once and you can (as said above) tweak the contacts a bit. You'll probably be able to see whats gone wrong if you take it apart and have a look. Be careful when opening it though incase the springs fly out like the one in my wiper stalk did!

[Dan]

Use a multimeter and check the supplies to the flasher switch. The flash uses a different power supply from the constant main beam. There is probably a dodgy contact somewhere between the master lighting switch and the dip switch, the flash circuit doesn't use this circuit path at all. It is very bad to leave the flash switch pulled on for any length of time. The makes both filaments in the lamp work at the same time and is not good for your wiring, you could easily get a fire in the headlamp earth wiring doing this for a long time.

What Mini do you drive? They are not all the same and there are many different electrical systems. Lots of problems on here have to be guessed at because people just don't say what car we are dealing with. In 40 years of production things were changed once or twice.
If you have a dim-dip system for example there could be other problems causing this.

[karl & his cooper]

1989 Mini City E.

Thanks for help so far!!

[karl & his cooper]

Fixed it...took 1 little tweak to bend a contact so it made contact!! lol

Thanks guys

Karl

[minili]

On occasion I have had a problem whereby if I have the full beam headlights on (ie indicator stalk clicked forward) when I pull the stalk back to turn off the full beams the headlights turn off completely. A quick touch of the stalk turns them back on. I have a loose indicator stalk due to a cracked bit of plastic. Today I took the steering column shroud off to stick the plastic together so it doesn't wobble (MOT tomorrow) and now the dipped beam headlights do not want to come on at all

When I turn the switch on the switch panel the sidelights come on but the second click doesn't want to turn on the dipped beam any more

If I fiddle with the stalk they come on but only momentarily. All I wanted to do was stop the wobble, I seem to have killed my headlights

This is the last thing I needed, especially as I'm taking the car to the garage shortly for the MOT tomorrow

HELP!

Edited by minili, 21 August 2007 - 02:36 PM.

[Dan]

You need a new stalk switch, there is little else you can do I'm afraid.