19 replies to this topic

[karl & his cooper]

the lil bulb at bottom side lights i believe arent coming on... there is continuenty across the bulb and there is possibly power going to go and recheck for myself. I need help to fix this or im screwed for my MOT today.

they were working but i had to take switch console out for a fix...check the light switch fine...all wires there, didnt seem to have a break as no inttermint flashing from messing with wires.


please help me many thanks


karl & poorly phoebe

[Guess-Works.com]

are your tail lights and instrument lights working ?

They are on the same circuit

[Jammy]

If worst comes to worst, ask for a daylight MOT. Least it allows you to drive your Mini during the day...

Although I'm not sure if you'd have to remove your lights for that?!

[karl & his cooper]

If worst comes to worst, ask for a daylight MOT. Least it allows you to drive your Mini during the day...

Although I'm not sure if you'd have to remove your lights for that?!

ok all fuses fine, both bulbs have continuenty accross them. about to checl tail lights &
guages. also I connected my meter to the ve and nve power leads to side light bulbs, reading 0 for both sides

[karl & his cooper]

we have tail lights and guage lights. also when the 1st level of switch is use the lil side light bulb doesnt come on but the proper bulb does at a dim level? what should i expect to see at each switch stage?

[WiredbyWilson]

you should have a sidelight bulb coming on and a dim main bulb.

have you tried new bulbs and checked there is power getting to the sidelights?? IIRC the feed to the main bulb is the same for the sidelight :s

[Jammy]

I suspect its the bullet connector at the front of the car... Should be just underneath the slam panel if I remember correctly. Can't remember quite what colour it should be though. Just check you've got 12V with the sidelights on.

[karl & his cooper]

just going to buy some now!

[karl & his cooper]

both bulbs replaced nothing....

engine running my voltmeter shows 0.09V going to side bulbs....

im screwed arent In? MOT in 4 hours

[pantera2075]

If you have continuity across the bulbs it's likely not the bulbs. Get a couple of bits of wire and check them direct off the battery. It sounds like dodgy bullet connector (as usual) at the front end or bad earth on drivers inner wing.
If I remember right, side light wiring is plain red ( I stand to be corrected here)

[Ethel]

Surely the bulbs are blown? The earth is common with the head lights.

[karl & his cooper]

Surely the bulbs are blown? The earth is common with the head lights.

all bulbs replaced...and all have continuety accross them!


is there anyway to cheat/bodge it for now to pass?
All wires look ok around bullet connectors they were working other day then i had the switch console out to fix something else

[langers2k]

engine running my voltmeter shows 0.09V going to side bulbs....

Is the 0.09v across the two connections where the sidelight plugs in? Try testing each one separately with a good grounding point, if one is 12v you have a grounding problem, if neither are anywhere near 12V, you have a power problem.

Then its just a case of either following the wire back until you find a corroded connector (possibly even a damaged wire) or bodging it by adding a new circuit in.

[karl & his cooper]

im going to cancel the mot and go to a scrap yard I think! Im sick of the sight of wires and my 4 wheeled friend!

[Jammy]

I suspect its the bullet connector at the front of the car... Should be just underneath the slam panel if I remember correctly. Can't remember quite what colour it should be though. Just check you've got 12V with the sidelights on.

Arrggh! Read that ^^^^.

Its common for the bullet connectors at the front of the engine bay, under the slam panel to corrode over time, and then they lose the connection! They are double barrelled bullet connectors. You have one feed wire that comes from the dash light switch, and then the two wires from each sidelight go into the connector too. Check the voltage at this connector. I bet you have 12V coming from the switch, 12V at the feed wire, but 0V at each sidelight.

Four hours is plenty of time to fix a problem as easy as this, especially if your ok with using a Multimeter. Pull yourself together man!