9 replies to this topic

[gileon]

Hi All.
I'm geting frustrated now! Neither the headlights or main beam work on my 94 Cooper.
I've read everything on the forum and checked all the connections and all appear sound.

Armed with a wiring diagram and multimeter I've checked and have no voltage on either the blue/red or blue/white under the slam panel.

When a 12v feed is connected the lights work!

I've been inside the car with the multimeter and checked that the switch is fine and the stalk switch is also working correctly.

Initailly I coulnt hear the orange relay under the dash working but on taking off the cover it does appear to be swithcing correctly.

I'm now assuming that there has to be some kind of break in the blue/red and white/red somewhere in the wiring loom!

Anybody have any ideas?

TIA

Ian

[marsden]

mite sound simple but checked the fuses?

[gileon]

Hi

Yes all the fuses are ok and working correctly too!

Ian

[pikey7]

how did you verify the switch was ok? It's usually the obvoius place to start (except for grounds....)

[cowboy]

this seems to be more of a common fault at the moment, with our lovelly mini,s

one minute everyhting is fine, the next we have no lights, then whats this we have lights again, what is wrong..

it's easy, what you have is a bad connection, usually with the fuse box. you have power going in and accross the fuse, but you have a bad conection coming out ot the fuse box


take of the top two conectors on the fuse box and clean them up

[gileon]

Hi Again

Removed the fuse box and cleaned all the connections up and still nothing?

Think it may be the relay inside the car - it connects when the light switch is turned on to sidelights then disconnects when the switch is turned to main beam???? Is this right?

Ian

[Dan]

It's not a simple relay to understand, it's electronically controlled and it doesn't simply turn things on and off, its a changeover. It doesn't actually effect the on or off state of the lights and doesn't isolate them from the switches so it isn't a headlamp relay. All it does is provide the dipped beam filaments with an alternate supply of power under certain circumstances. It monitors the status of the ignition, sidelights and headlamps (high or low beam doesn't matter, only if the lighting switch is in the headlamp position)

Ignition off, sidelights off, headlamps off >> dipped beam connected to lighting switch.
Ingition off, sidelights on, headlamps off >> dipped beam connected to lighting switch.
Ignition off, sidelights on, headlamps on >> dipped beam connected to lighting switch.
Ignition on, sidelights on, headlamps on >> dipped beam connected to lighting switch.
Ignition on, sidelights on, headlamps off >> dipped beam connectd to dim dip resistor supply.
Ignition on, sidelights off, headlamps off >> dipped beam connected to lighting switch.

When the dipped beam lamps are connected to the dim dip resistor supply they glow at about 60% of normal intensity (due to the resistor). This system exists to prevent you driving the car on sidelights only. This is all it does, nothing else.

Its no great surprise that cleaning the fuse box didn't help as (like I seem to say again and again) there are no fuses in the main fuse block of any Mini up to '96 that are part of the lighting circuit (except for German export models). The only fuse in the dip and main headlamp system of any English spec Mini before '96 is the line fuse for the dim dip resistor to the best of my knowledge and even that was only fitted after '88.

How have you determined that your switches are working? If you have found 12v out of the stalk switch at the blue/red and blue/white wires when it and the master lighting switch are in the required positions but it isn't reaching the bullet connectors, then you are probably right about a broken wire. It could just be a nice thick layer of corrosion on the bullet connectors stopping the volts from flowing but I assume you've scratched them down a bit as part of your testing.

Edited by Dan, 14 May 2006 - 11:40 PM.

[gileon]

thanks dan - cleared that up for me.

yes I have 12v out of the stalk in the required positions.

I'm gonna take the loom apart and investigate!

Thanks all for the advice.

Ian

[Dan]

I always try to leave slicing off the loom tape for the very last resort. Have a damn good look at all the terminals in all the plugs first. They could be loose or snapped off of the wires. Also (I can't remember what age of car we are talking about here) if you have bullet connectors under the slam panel, make sure the bullets aren't heavily corroded and about to snap off the wires. A break in the cable inside the loom is the least likely thing so leave that 'til last, unless you can actually see any areas where it has been worn away or rubbed against by something.

Edited by Dan, 17 May 2006 - 07:19 PM.

[taffy1967]

Well that orange relay situated under the dash is just a dim-dip relay isn't it? Might be worth changing the (4) fuse-box on the bulkhead and check all the in-line fuses are working properly too!