25 replies to this topic

[Mini Manannán]

Email David: [email protected]

 

He is a whizz with elektrickery

[Chris1992]

Update. After a bit of fettling I have managed to fix a few things but not everything. firstly after removing the WBW switches I realised the earth for the LEDs had come off, so after sticking that back on again they seem to be working fine now. Next I found that a connector for the high beams on the passenger side had broken off, so after fixing that I now have working high beams. However, I still can't figure out why the headlights (dim beam) won't work. Interestingly the LED for the switch works fine but the lights themselves do not. So far I have checked the fuse box connectors, fuses, plugs under the column, earths, made sure nothing was wired up backwards, etc, but I'm still stumped. I'm thinking the next place to check will be the connectors on the indicator stalks under the column shroud, so will check there when I have some more free time. 

[Mini Manannán]

Have you checked the bullet connectors behind the grill yet Chris?

[Chris1992]

Have you checked the bullet connectors behind the grill yet Chris?

 

Sorry I forgot to mention. I don't actually have any connectors behind the grill, as I have done a full smoothed and wired tucked engine bay. I basically made my own headlight wiring loom which passes under the drivers side wing to the drivers side headlight, before traveling along the front under the slam panel to the passenger headlight. It's also earthed under the wing too. I've pulled all the wires out to inspect them and all seem just as solid as the day I put them in. 

[Compdoc]

You need a multimeter. Check the power at the switch, in and out, then each connection until you reach the headlight. If you lose the power at any point you then have the two points where the break is in between.

[Chris1992]

Update: I have found the source of the problem! After much faffing about I have traced the issue to the dip/main beam relay, where i found a rather questionable bit of wiring... See for yourself.

 

 

In my 8 years of owning my car, I have never noticed that fat green wire, I swear I didn't put it there. I'm fairly sure that's not standard! After pulling on the wires and trying all the connections the lights suddenly came on, and then shortly after that green bridge wire started to get rather hot, which is worrying to say the least. The first thing I tried was removing the relay, which made no difference at all; both the main and dip beams continued to work. 

 

So I can only assume that at some point in the past, the relay has stopped working, and the previous owner has simply bypassed it to avoid replacing it. Would that be correct? I'm not exactly an expert in wiring so I may be wrong. 

[cal844]

Bypassing it is the best thing to do, you don't need the relay.

[Chris1992]

Bypassing it is the best thing to do, you don't need the relay.

 

Oh really? Even though the wire is getting quite hot? 

[cal844]

Bypassing it is the best thing to do, you don't need the relay.

Oh really? Even though the wire is getting quite hot?

If it's getting hot you are either drawing too much current (upgraded, high power headlights can cause this) or you have a poor connection somewhere.

You want to make sure the relay bypass wire is rated for the current

[minifreek1]

You may not need the relay but it was put there for a reason.... Id replaced it myself and cut out the bypass wire and get rid of the scotch connectors...

[cal844]

You may not need the relay but it was put there for a reason.... Id replaced it myself and cut out the bypass wire and get rid of the scotch connectors...

Yes I do agree that doing the bypass from the relay connections would be better