fiddled with front lights and now it wont come on! HELP!

[jb007]

Hi all, bit of a problem. The small screws that adjust the headlights came loose and the light basically couldnt be adjusted and both were aimed far to high. I removed the plastic covers and managed to get the metal cage back in the groove for the adjusters.

Problem is once i put it all back together and plugged the lights back in one the farside one worked... thinking i might of blown a bulb (random guess) i swapped the bulbs over but still only the farside light pob works... any ideas what ive managed to break??

Just had to call someone and tell them i cant pick them up afterall as its dark now lol cant drive with one light!

Any help would be grand! thanks

[Tony jinxy froude]

My guess is that you may have tugged on one of the wires in the block that plugs into the bulb or where they join the loom in the front, whip them back off & check is all you can do, good luck, Jinxy
P.S dont forget to put your location in your avitar box, its helps to know where in the country you are & you may find someone lives near you that can help.

[classic mk1]

Hi, Check the wiring at the plug. Its possible a wire has come detached from the terminals, give them a gentle wiggle about you will some see if there's a problem there.

sorry Tony. you replied as i was typing

[flippin'eck]

More than likely wide of the mark here, but something to look at if all else fails..

I recently had a similar prob where one light worked and the other didn't. ISTR the right hand side was ok & the LHS one wouldn't light.

I too changed both bulbs to no avail.

The problem turned out to be the relay that is mounted inside the frunk, on the inner wall below the washer fluid bottle. It's mounted inside a square rubber boot on a little angled sheet metal stand-off.

I took the old relay apart & it looked like some washer fluid had gotten in there at some point, and corroded the fine wire of the coil.

A replacement from Mr T was suprisingly cheap, seem to recall no more than £20 or something.

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... ht=#741510

Jinxy's theory seems more likely though

[jb007]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. looked at the plug, all wires attached on terminals fine. had it plugged intot he light and gave each one a 'wiggle' etc but nothing. Loads of grease and muck where the bulb plugs in at the front, cleaned all that out but still no disco...

neil, checked the relay and its fine, looks good as new.

well ive certainly messed something up somewhere. is it possible its a problem not on the plug block but on the other end of the wire?

Jon

[Tom G]

Um, might sound silly, but have you checked the fuses? I think theyre in the drivers footwell, and i *think* there are seperate fuses for left and right bulbs

[flippin'eck]

Aye checking fuses sounds like a good plan

If really stumped and it comes back to the relay, you can test it by removing it & (briefly!) connecting the coil terminals across the battery - you should hear a sharp, distinct 'TICK' when you connect it, then another when you disconnect it.

It's not a comprehensive test that the whole relay is fully working contacts and all, but it's the coil that seems to be the vulnerable part, and it'll tell you if that's working.

Not sure exactly which terminals are the coil terminals.. make sure you do know which two spades to test on, if you connect the battery across the switched terminals you'll fry the innards of the relay.

A safer alternative if you have one, would be to measure the coil resistance using a multimeter on the ohms range - it should show at least some continuity, an high reading over a megohm or so would indicate a failed coil.

Anyway hope it's something simpler..

[jb007]

ok thanks for the relay tip, checked and its fine. on a side note, my relay is grey, arent most green?

ok update, drove home so i could work on my car properly, no power going to stereo, so maybe fuses i thought? i looked at the fuses in the frunk, two 10 red for LH uppr and lwr, and the same for RH uppr and lrw.

I swapped these around to see if it caused non working light to work and vice versa, and it did! Did a couple more swaps (not got any spare 10a fuses in the house, need to ask my dad) and both came on, both side light and main beam. But FULL beam is only the near side left light... so if it a bulb thats the problem now or still fuses?? also my stereo still isnt getting any power...

im learning alot but wished random things like this didnt happen to an amateur like me!!

Thanks for all the help, jon.

[flippin'eck]

The relay that went on mine was another colour again, black. I think there's 3 relays in total on mine that do the headlights..

Looking at the diagram I've got, the feeds for both the dipped beam and the high beam filaments are commoned together so in theory, if the diagram's right, both sides should fail together if it's anything other than the bulbs or the bulb connectors, or maybe a junction box

However.. the relay definitely fixed mine, so I don't trust my diagrams. I think the UK spec is a bit oddball, and the 'dim/dip relay 2' I replaced, is something to do with some kind of legislative thing that makes the set up different from other localities

Not being much help here I know, sorry.. maybe just look to see if you have some other headlamp - related relays in there.. and maybe try to find a UK spec wiring diagram..

[jimi]

The relay that went on mine was another colour again, black. I think there's 3 relays in total on mine that do the headlights.. there is a green one, but it's a big fat one on the bulkhead IIRC

Green one is dim/dip ( it's also grey on some change over cars )
Black one next to wiper motor is Retract control

Black on on inner wing (below washer bottle) is for dim/dip as well, it puts the dim beams in series to give the "dim" part. I seem to remember that there's another one hiding in the front boot as well. I'm pretty sure 1a's don't have these relays as they didn't have dim/dip

[flippin'eck]

Sorry jimi cross posted / edited there

Selection of relay pics on an ebay auction: http://tinyurl.com/2mcuw9

[jimi]

Sorry jimi cross posted / edited there

Good luck at finding diagrams that cover the dim/dip side of things, I've been looking for years and still haven't got anything. Fortunately the rest of the 1a/1b wiring is the same as the diagrams I have, it's just the dim/dip that isn't there.

[jb007]

update

ive isolated the problem fuse. after swapping round fuses i got the light back on, but only full high beam worked on the near side. i swapped the 10a red fuse for the right side high beam for a spare 10a i found, and it works fine now! to make sure it was the dodgy fuse i tried it in left light lrw for example and it failed. so thats lights sorted!! how i blew a fuse i dunno, is it easy to do?

stereo still not receiving power, which is strange. looked in drivers footwell fuse box and botton left fuse is for radio and lighter socket by the looks of it, the fuse is fine as my lighter socket works fine, whipped fuse out and it didnt, back in and it does, still no power to radio. Anything else? im about to buy a new headunit as well!!

[jimi]

There's another fuse that can affect the stereo, in the engine bay fusebox, marked Haz-Radio ( 15A IIRC or maybe 10A if it's a 1a)
hth
Jimi

edit
You can normally tell if these type fuses are blown or not by looking at them, look at the side of the coloured plastic bit and you should see a silver link ( inside the plastic) that runs between the 2 spades, it should be continuous if it isn't, the fuse is blown

[jb007]

thanks for the tip jimi, the 10a for the lights was blown so thats put that to rest, ace.

Checked in the engine bay, its a 15a and its in tact and fine, tried a new one anyway, still no luck. as i had the new 15a spare, i popped it in the drivers side fuse box under 'FOG' as one wasnt there before, doesnt make any diff tho, fogs still work, whats that fuse for then?

No more ideas about radio power, weird it happened same time as lights stopping cause of fuse. possible it fried my cheap headunit?

thanks, jon

[monkeymax]

No more ideas about radio power, weird it happened same time as lights stopping cause of fuse. possible it fried my cheap headunit?

Jon, some headunits have a fuse of their own in their rear - it may be worth you pulling out the headunit and checking that fuse too... (If it has one - check your owners manual)

[jimi]

No more ideas about radio power, weird it happened same time as lights stopping cause of fuse. possible it fried my cheap headunit?

Jon, some headunits have a fuse of their own in their rear - it may be worth you pulling out the headunit and checking that fuse too... (If it has one - check your owners manual)

Good idea Max other than that you really need to check at the back of the H.U. with a voltmeter to see if you are getting power to the H.U.
Drivers kick panel fuse marked Fog normally does not have a fuse. It's meant for front fogs, but I'm pretty sure there's no wiring as standard.
Rear fog lights are supplied from the 7.5A fuse marked Dome
Here's the fuse locations, page 126 is the correct locations for UK cars





hth
Jimi

[jb007]

thanks jimi and max.

Just whipped head out, no fuse. to be honest its a horrible unit that came with car and never got round to replacing it, i reckon it was about 30 quid from halfords years ago, its that bad! Before it was working fine, but now i have no power im unsure whether to buy my new one in case it doesn't work. i dont understand at all why this problem has occured.

also, not got a voltmeter, even asked my dad and he usually has everything! thanks for the scans, handy as i dont have the owners manual.

really sure what else to try now, fuse in drivers footwell and engine bay are both fine and working. could it be anything related to the aerial fuse?

labour of love isnt it?? jon.

[jimi]

The full scanned owners manual is here CLICKY
on my website
Aerial is fed from Turn - Gag fuse in the drivers footwell IIRC
Jimi

[flippin'eck]

a tail-light bulb can be used as a makeshift voltmeter.. wrap a bit of wire around the body, use the wire end as a probe, press the 'pip' of the bulb to some grounded metalwork.

See if you can get the bulb to light up off the wire feeding the HU