19 replies to this topic

[Danuneek]

Hey, I'm having problems with one of my headlights, for some reason its illumination is only half the power of the other one. I thought it could be a dying bulb so i've replaced it but thats made no difference. My dad reckons its shorting, and that its a bad connection somewhere within the wires and thats why we're only getting half power. Also, there seems to be a couple of seconds delay in my full beam/spots when turning them off, it might or might not be related. Before I get an electrician out to have a look, do any of you knowledgeable folk have any ideas?

[L400RAS]

Hi Danuneek,



Take off the grille, and look under the slam panel (location shown). Tucked up there will be a mass of wires, controlling both headlights. These are bullet type connections, and unfortunately quite bad quality. Pull each one IN TURN apart and clean / replace with a space connector etc. The wiring colours you should have are blue with red tracer, blue with white tracer, and black one for earth. I suspect this will be your problem if one light is working fine.

HTH
Ryan

[yorkshirechris]

Dont get an electrician out!

I notice you're in Leeds, join the LCMOC forum www.lcmoc.com and ask on there, I'm sure there'll be someone willing to come and help you with it for a cup of coffee I would but I don't have transport anymore nor do I have any tools

[Bullet]

Looking at what you drive a 1.3i it's a spi or mpi post 1985? have you thought about the dim/dip relay under the dash?

[L400RAS]

Looking at what you drive a 1.3i it's a spi or mpi post 1985? have you thought about the dim/dip relay under the dash?

Hi Bullet,
If one headlight is working normally, i suspect the output of the dim dim relay to be ok. The output from this splits to the two headlights at the point shown, so i would clean these connections.

Ryan

Edited by L400RAS, 24 November 2008 - 07:33 PM.

[Bullet]

Looking at what you drive a 1.3i it's a spi or mpi post 1985? have you thought about the dim/dip relay under the dash?

Hi Bullet,
If one headlight is working normally, i suspect the output of the dim dim relay to be ok. The output from this splits to the two headlights at the point shown, so i would clean these connections.

Ryan

Hi Ryan,

Ok only suggested it as had a similar problem with one of my lights (Drivers side) only working on main beam, so we swapped relay with my other car and it worked fine, a simple thing to rule out.

On another note, are you good with electronics, as after 3 years of being fine my spi decided tonight when I use the indicator they don’t work but do turn the radio on and off. As not to hijack this thread PM me if you have any ideas
Cheers,

Bullet

[L400RAS]

On another note, are you good with electronics, as after 3 years of being fine my spi decided tonight when I use the indicator they don’t work but do turn the radio on and off. As not to hijack this thread PM me if you have any ideas
Cheers,

Bullet

Bullet, this is a strange one! You say the radio goes on and off, i assume as if IT were the indicators? The indicators and radio are run of seperate fuses, now the only way i can imagine what you experiencing is possibly due to a bad earth( hard to trace), or green furr behind the fuse box. I assume you have the 4 fuse box on the bulkhead under the bonnet, perhaps you could check by unscrewing it and see if there is any furr - it builds up due to dampness and can create strange electrical problems. Disconnect battery first thought. Give it a good clean, then apply vaseline (other brands of petroleum jelly are available...) all over it the clean connections to keep it good.

Ryan

Edited by L400RAS, 24 November 2008 - 07:59 PM.

[MiniMonty]

Is the radio a factory fit ?
If not the permanent live may have been bodged and taken from the hazards which
are temptingly close if it's a dash fitted radio and can cause all manner of weirdness to the electrics.
(know this from experience....)

Best wishes
Monty

[L400RAS]

Is the radio a factory fit ?
If not the permanent live may have been bodged and taken from the hazards which
are temptingly close if it's a dash fitted radio and can cause all manner of weirdness to the electrics.
(know this from experience....)
Best wishes
Monty

Good point MiniMonty, the indicators do run through the hazard switch so this could be another source of strangeness.
Ryan

[Bullet]

Is the radio a factory fit ?
If not the permanent live may have been bodged and taken from the hazards which
are temptingly close if it's a dash fitted radio and can cause all manner of weirdness to the electrics.
(know this from experience....)

Best wishes
Monty

Hi Monty,

I’d say it’s not an original radio but later retro fitted in dash in the place of a factory fitted.

Thanks for the suggestion Monty (and the PM’s Ryan)

I’ll check as much out as possible at work tomorrow lunch and let you know!!

If there is still a problem I’ll start a new thread.

[taffy1967]

Looking at what you drive a 1.3i it's a spi or mpi post 1985? have you thought about the dim/dip relay under the dash?

Eh? SPi is post 1991 on the Cooper and around 1995 on the non-Cooper 1275 engined Minis.

MPi is post 1996.

[Bullet]

Looking at what you drive a 1.3i it's a spi or mpi post 1985? have you thought about the dim/dip relay under the dash?

Eh? SPi is post 1991 on the Cooper and around 1995 on the non-Cooper 1275 engined Minis.

MPi is post 1996.

So 91, 95, 96 all post 85 then...lol
Just intended the relay is the same post about 85, be it a carb, spi or mpi model the question was spi or mpi.

Any ideas on fixing the problem in question??

Edited by Bullet, 24 November 2008 - 10:01 PM.

[Danuneek]

Thanks guys for the help,

L400RAS: I'll get on with removing the grill tomorrow and cleaning all the connectors. Hopefully it'll do the trick. If not i'll be back on here.

Yorkshirechris: I didn't know there was a club in leeds, i'm a member of the Yorkshire and fabmoc clubs, though a Leeds one would be closer to home.

Bullet: I am having wiring issues under my dash, the other day my car was just cutting out for no reason, then I moved a few wires around under my steering column and it stopped. Found out it was the plug/connector that joins the ignition/starter wires. So I will check the dim/dip relay as well. Oh and thanks for robbing the thread


PS: My cars a 93 Cooper Spi.

[MiniMonty]

Danuneek - go back to the very first answer on this thread.
This is the answer 99% of the time with headlights.
You will probably find all manor of gunk and grime under there so be methodical and do each one in turn;
open the connection, clean, vaseline and replace - then the next one.
Might take a good hour or so and some numb fingers in this weather but it is usually there that the problem lies.

It's because that particular part of the loom is quite open to the weather and the grime that flies into the front of the
car from the road. One trick I learned (once it's all cleaned up) is to go to PC World and get some of that tubing
that you can wrap around computer wiring to keep it tidy (costs pennies). It will keep the slam panel wiring
much cleaner and much more waterproof - but only worth doing once you've done the 20 year clean up job !

Best wishes
Monty

[Danuneek]

Danuneek - go back to the very first answer on this thread.
This is the answer 99% of the time with headlights.
You will probably find all manor of gunk and grime under there so be methodical and do each one in turn;
open the connection, clean, vaseline and replace - then the next one.
Might take a good hour or so and some numb fingers in this weather but it is usually there that the problem lies.

It's because that particular part of the loom is quite open to the weather and the grime that flies into the front of the
car from the road. One trick I learned (once it's all cleaned up) is to go to PC World and get some of that tubing
that you can wrap around computer wiring to keep it tidy (costs pennies). It will keep the slam panel wiring
much cleaner and much more waterproof - but only worth doing once you've done the 20 year clean up job !

Best wishes
Monty

Thanks Monty, i'm on it + thanks for the tubing tip.