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Tail lights


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#1 mayfairman

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Posted 02 December 2004 - 04:49 PM

I think i may have found the problem of the fuse blowing on my rear tail lights.
On looking at the loom where it comes in from the engine bay by the passenger side pillar it looks like the insulation has melted through and rubbed at the bottom of the front pillar,probably happened when we had the new wings,A panels and windscreen scuttle welded on.
I have a mini which i am stripping down for parts luckely,and have removed the rear wiring loom from the roof space after dissconnecting it in the engine bay.
Any advice on fitting it in to the good mini as the roof lining came away quicker in the scrap one and i need to be more careful in the good one i hope to fit it this weekend.
:erm:
As you can imagine i do not want to damage the roof lining.

#2 Dan

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Posted 04 December 2004 - 11:22 AM

Ah, now here's an old wiremans trick from when I used to install data networks. You can swap out the rear loom without touching the headliner. Disconnect all the bullets at the bulkhead and the interior lamp connections in the headliner (remember the screwed one on older lamps), tape the lamp conmectors to the main loom if you can reach it through the hole to stop them snagging. Tape around the bullets to make them into a smooth bundle whic won't snag and then securely tie a good length of cord to the loom at the bullets (tie it, tape it just make sure it can't come off but don't make the bundle too big to get through the hole). The best way to pull it out is to remove the rear pillar trim and pull straight through the roof, but if you don't think you'll be able to get the trim back under the window seals nicely you can do it from the boot just be careful as it is more likely to snag. You need to pull the loom through carefully and slowly making sure the loom and the cord don't get snagged up, tie the end of the cord off to the bulkhead somewhere to stop it disappearing if you pull too hard. Leave the cord in place and rip out the dead loom. Thread the end of the new loom up past the parcel shelf from the boot and lay it all on the shelf. Now you have to make it smooth, so tape down the interior lamp connectors and use plenty to protect the bullets, and get the cord securely fixed. Don't do too good a job of taping up the interior lamp fittings as you need to work through the tiny hole to get them out again. A LITTLE SILICON grease on the loom can help it slide in, but don't go mental with it. Now pull it through slowly and carefully. Don't ever yank it or you run a high risk of stripping the wires. You might need someone to help feed it while you pull. If you tie another cord to the end you can pull that through at the same time as the loom to leave in place in case you ever want to fit extra wires. (Good wiremen always leave pull cords in cable chases, my Mini has a cord in both sides.) Do test the new loom before you go to the trouble of fitting it. If it all goes wrong you can alway pull the head liner so it's not quite like pulling 320 pair cat5 under airport runways (which you can't dig up obviously) but it's the same principle.

#3 Pavel

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Posted 04 December 2004 - 11:32 AM

That's a great summary dan!

One question: Let's say you don't care about the crappy loom that goes to the rear lights, and you want to just bring in new feeds for them after disconnecting the old wires... Is there anything wrong with bringing in the new loom under the carpets, under the seatpan and then through the bulkhead?

#4 Dan

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Posted 04 December 2004 - 11:42 AM

Not at all, Mini's from '96 on have the rear loom running under the carpet. But they also have holes through the crossmember, rear seat base, companion bin and beside the seat bulkhead to put the cable through, as well as an enlarged re-inforcing channel in the floor to carry the loom so you can't feel it through the carpet. And they use modern thinwall automotive cable which is very much smaller than standard auto cable. Without cutting these holes it would be hard to fit many wires this way, so it's probably easier to replace the whole thing in this case as Mayfairman's loom may also have welding damage in other places which hasn't shown itself yet.
Heritage shells are also built with the new or old cable routing possible.

#5 mayfairman

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Posted 04 December 2004 - 03:28 PM

Thanks Pavel and Dan for the advice i will use the pull through method .Why is it when you are doing the job your self we always find the hardest way,yet others see the simple way.The easiest way is to replace the whole loom in a oner to be sure of no problems.
Will let you know how i get on. :lol:



:P :o




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