11 replies to this topic

[georgegannon]

(1990 mini city) 

Hi there, 

woke up this morning to no reverse lights, no indicators and no wipers..  (not sure if brake lights are working yet as havnt checked) 

(im VERY new to this so bare with me) 

 

first instinct would say to me the fuse that covers these things had gone.. but after looking into it they arnt all covered under the same fuse. 

or are they?!

 

refering to this thread http://www.theminifo...ng#entry2767216

 

although it is about an older model, post no 6, advises that these things ARE infact covered under the same fuse (top fuse on four fuse box) 

could this be the case with my 1990 city?

 

the hazards work, so its not bulbs.. and the horn works on the stick, so i doubt its wiring from there.. 

 

unfortunatly, i do not have any knowledge of these things, (although very willing to learn)

 

i do not have a haynes manual or a multimeter.. these things are in the post and should get them any day. 

so i cannot check the wiring that way..

 

 

does anyone know of any quick fixes or checks i can do to try get them working again? 

 

side notes : recently had a headlight issue, some minor jiggery pokery with the wires (by a friendly local mini enthusiast) sorted the problem,. was a wiring connection issue i believe. 

 

also, this may be irrelevant, but i have found i from time to time get minor electric shock (similar to static shocks) when touching the body. (often when getting out the car and touching the door panel) 

 

 

any help or quick ideas i could try would be really appreciated!

 

again hazards work, just the wipers, indicators and reverse light that im aware of at the moment. (brake lights may also not be working, have not yet checked)  

 

thanks in advance! 

 

 

 

[Ethel]

All ignition dependent, does it run or at least show the ignition warning light? Does the heater fan and/or radio work?
White wires from ignition switch to fusebox if yes; brown wires to the starter solenoid and the in switch itself if no.

[georgegannon]

thanks for the reply! 

yeah the car runs fine.. just as normal! 

radio works fine, not sure on the heater as i didnt try it!! 

so as the radio works, your saying its the brown wires to the starter solenoid and the inswitch itself?

where abouts will i find these please? and is it a case of checking the wire and connections? 

 

really appreciate your help! 

[Ethel]

Nope, the radio should be on the first position of the switch, an indication of power getting to the switch via the brown wire. But no matter, if it runs there's power going through the 2nd position for ignition, wipers etc. I'd look at the white wires on the fusebox and see if they are live when the ignition is on next. They become green on the other side to indicate they are now fuse protected. You could detach the green and very quickly touch them to the white, with the faulty items & ignition on, to see if it's the fusebox.

[georgegannon]

really appreciate that thanks..

unfortunately it all goes over my head! (im hopeless)  i cant really see a white wire if im honest.. theres a whitish/yellow wire coming out of the top fuse from the left.. i have removed the connection cleaned it and put back. still nothing  

[Ethel]

It was probably white once, especially if it's one solid colour, not striped. Just to confirm, it is the fusebox with 4 glass fuses?

 

Have you got some form of circuit tester? Just a bulb will do, you could borrow the one in the interior light.  Turn the ignition on, disconnect the white wire from the fusebox and earth it via the bulb. Any bare metal should do as an earth, like the brake cylinder.

 

Alternatively, you could swap the white with the brown wire on the fuse (next down?) that has purple wires on its right side. That's for the horn and interior light, so they should still work, but only if you switch the ignition on. Brown is permanent live so if your wipers etc now work without the ignition key turned we've narrowed the fault down - It'd be best to turn something on, an indicator, before attaching the brown so you can quickly disconnect it if there's any sign of things getting hot.

[georgegannon]

yes it does look like it cleans up to white now at second glance.. its a 4 fuse box, and yes they are glass... no circuit tester at the moment. got a multimeter on its way and my interior bulb has never worked anyway! ha. 

 

so just to confirm what you said there.. 

 

ignition on..

disconnect white fuse wire (this is top left as looking at the fuse box) 

then you said before to quickly touch the green wire connection to the fuse box with the white wire, whilst the faulty things (indicators, heater, wipers etc) are on..

what will this do? what shall i expect?

i think after looking at the fuses.. they seem ok. so im not sure its the fuses to be honest. but again i have no clue. 

its annoying because i have a multimeter on the way and i need it now more than ever, although even when i confirm that the fuses are ok, im then back to square one! arrrgh. 

think its time i start learning alittle about mechanics! haha! infact i don't think i have a choice now! ;) 

 

really appreciate the advice though! you guys are all so nice it makes me very proud to be a mini owner! :) 

thank you 

[Ethel]

Just do my last paragraph, that's assuming you have a working horn to test with  . Connect the white in place of the brown first, then you can test from the driver's seat - ign on, toot, toot! (hopefully).  Then switch on the indicators, any side, and touch the brown where the white was connected and hope to see/hear the indicators blink. 

[georgegannon]

ok great! thanks ever so much!! 

i will learn eventually! 

i'l give this a go this evening and see what happens :) 

 

thanks again! 

[georgegannon]

sorry, also..

 

if this works and the indicators blink when i try the above..

what will this tell me? that the fuse has gone? 

[Ethel]

No, it's still wired through the fuse, left side of the fusebox is supply all the working bits are connected to the right. you'll be swapping over the supplies, so if no horn with white wire the fault is before the fusebox - if that works, but the indicators still don't, it might be the fuse, and probably something else that caused it to blow, or just something else downstream of the fuse.

[georgegannon]

great thank you!!