14 replies to this topic

[Chance]

Ive searched but cant find anything I can make sense of
And the Haynes isnt helping me really

Is there an idiots guide to how the bullet connections are supposed to be connected
As in what colour goes where??

Thanks

[edoddy]

well, i always forget so connect the negative up (all three blacks) then put the sidelights on. then use a tester to see which one is giving voltage, then try each one till you get side's, when thats done put the healights on, after that, the only ones lft will be main beam... simples!!!

there is something in the wiring that makes them left or right but in my own humble opinion as long as the switch lights the correct bulbs, it's happy days!!

Edited by edoddy, 09 October 2012 - 10:28 PM.

[Chance]

Are they generally all just colour coded??
All the blacks?? All the blue/whites etc??

Dont have a tester I just want to rule them out to be honest as headlights have stopped working and main beam has ( permanent not flasher) but every other electrical thing works.

[mk1leg]

blue/white full beam
blue/red dip beam
black earth
red side light

[Chance]

So each connector block:

3blue whites
3black

And so on, all matching colours are grouped in the same one??

[maccers]

Yep, thats correct. I just fitted a new loom not so long ago and just matched the colours. Some people on here connect the blacks direct to the body in a place where they wont get all manky like most seem to do. Make sure they are well pushed in to the block and tuck them away out of the line of rain etc.

[Chance]

I only asked in the first place as I have no headlights and no permanent main beam ( when you push the stalk forward)

Theres a dodgy connection ( second one down on left) on my fuse box that stops my sidelights working and wiggling it makes them work fine
It used to make my headlights work but now nothing

[maccers]

I didn't think the lights were fused?

[tiger99]

You are correct, and your previous suggestion about fitting new earths is also a very good idea. Side and rear lights may be fused, sometimes seperately left and right on later models, headlights not, at least not collectively. It is permissible to have seperate fuses for left and right headlights but no Mini seems to have been wired that way as standard. A single headlight fuse is illegal and dangerous. A single side/rear light fuse can be identified by red incoming feed and red/green outgoing, and will probably be post-1976 or thereabouts, but the outgoing wires will be red-white and red-black on a dual fused model, late 1990s.

I very strongly recommend fixing the designed-in earthing problem properly by fitting an earth point (4 mm or 5 mm bolt) to each inner wing near to the lights, and taking left and right (side, indicator and headlights) to its own bolt. Use ring terminals on the wires, and a zinc plated bolt. The assembly sequence is bolt, star washer, inner wing, star washer, nut, done up tight. I clean to bare metal first, then etch, prime and paint over the bolt head and nut on both sides to prevent corrosion. Then I put a second nut on, not done up tight against the first but leaving a gap, star washer, ring terminal(s), second star washer, nut done up against the second nut. That way you get a good connection without disturbing the paint again.

The really bad problem with using a single earth, as Rover did, is that if it fails (as many seem to be doing these days), the headlights suddenly go out, and you may be driving fast on a dark road at night. That has happened to me, not in a Mini, and although it was in 1971, I still remember it well. I suspect that similar failures have killed people.

[Chance]

Well I used to wiggle that fuse connection I mentioned earlier to make all my lights come on but now that only works for sidelights, clean up connector??

So what else can be causing my headlight issue?? Just the earths at the front?? Dad said my flash doesnt work now either

[tiger99]

It may well be the earths, which connect back to the bulkhead near the fuse you have been wiggling. As I said, that is a dangerous arrangement, and although the earth is needed for other things, and so must be fixed, I do strongly recommend that you rewire them as described.

How many times have they failed? Who knows, next time could be your last, which is why I take the headlight wiring very seriously indeed. Make very sure that you have found and fixed the fault(s) before driving at night.

The flash is fed from the purple circuit, which is permanantly live and also feeds the horn. The circuit is fused, and the wire on the other end of the fuse will be brown. The lack of flash may be a seperate problem, but if the headlights don't work due to earth or bullet connector problems, they will not flash either.

[Chance]

They have never failed when going along, when I'm using it like, once wiggled they stayed on

But now They just do not come on at all.

So take the black wire from each light to the inner wing as you described before, what about the middle/third black wire from the loom??

I know what you mean about the safety factor
I only use it for work, atm in the morning i't isnt that dark and still light when I come out but I still havent used it tbf

[Chance]

Right so the flashing was just cause dad had been messing

Cleaned all bullet connections which didnt work
And now I dont know what else to do, surely i'f i't was a dodgy earth it would be intermittent??

Is the fuse box earthed to the bulkhead behind it??

[tiger99]

The middle black wire is the earth to the bulkhead which you no longer need.

A dodgy earth is not necessarily intermittent, and possibly the wire has corroded or broken just inside the terminal at one end.

The earth is at or near the fusebox, and I honestly can't remember how it is implemented, as I had to make other arrangements when trouble began. The fuse box itself need no earth, but a bunch of black wires from various places do.

[Chance]

Thanks for the help

Guess ive got a frustrating weekend ahead of me.