Headlight sidelight problems

[Mr Clifford]

Dear All,
Went for a drive today , parked up for petrol only to come back to the car and realised my side lights were on.
But, the light switch was set to off !

Got home, took off the battery lead to see if it would fix itself !

Now I have no side lights but the headlights work ok and all lights are now off when the car is parked switched off.

Any thoughts 'oh gurus ' out there ?

Many thanks in advance

Regards
Adrian

[gifdy]

Had it been raining - crap in the connectors at the front ? Mine were in a right old state when I last had them out.

[Mr Clifford]

Hi, nope, not really been caught in the rain recently.
Couple of things have happened out of the blue recently.
Reversing lights not working.
When I reverse out of my garage the frond side lights come on
Now the front lights are playing up.
Spoke to garage tonight and they suggested first checking the front bulbs
Have free day tomorrow so have time to check.
Will check for loose wires also.

Any other thoughts on problems with lights guys ?

[Julesprivate]

No reversing lights but front sidelights on when reversing sounds like a bad earth....which let's face it is common in fibreglass cars LOL.

That wouldn't explain the sidelights being on when the switch is off though, obviously to be on a light needs a 12V and an earth, so clearly it was getting 12V from somewhere... Maybe the dim/dip circuit?

[Mr Clifford]

Julesprivate said:

No reversing lights but front sidelights on when reversing sounds like a bad earth....which let's face it is common in fibreglass cars LOL.

That wouldn't explain the sidelights being on when the switch is off though, obviously to be on a light needs a 12V and an earth, so clearly it was getting 12V from somewhere... Maybe the dim/dip circuit?

Thanks for this.

Situation now is no sidelights all all but headlights come on when switched on.

Some thing loose or worn somewhere

Not to worried about the reversing lights because I think that's switch on the gaer box.

Gonna be fun tomorrow. ..... Worse than that can't find me bible !!
Wife's been tidying up again ;-)

[S2Mike]

With the wiring on mine it was dangling under the wheel arch, it would not take much to catch on the wheel or rub through and short out, so worth a look under there.
I replaced wires affected and plasti wrapped them and cable tied back to the chassis.

[Mr Clifford]

S2Mike said:

With the wiring on mine it was dangling under the wheel arch, it would not take much to catch on the wheel or rub through and short out, so worth a look under there.
I replaced wires affected and plasti wrapped them and cable tied back to the chassis.

Thanks, have now checked bulbs and fuses.
Changed a couple fuses and now have everything working apart front left dip light.
So think t was simply changing fuses.

[phillpot]

Mr Clifford said:

So think it was simply changing fuses.

Fuses don't (or shouldn't) blow without a reason?

possibly pulling high current due to resistance through dodgey connections

[Mr Clifford]

phillpot said:

Fuses don't (or shouldn't) blow without a reason?

possibly pulling high current due to resistance through dodgey connections

Thanks, lets see if they go again !
All I know is at the moment things are working again !!

[ijbd]

hmm,

I would say extra resistance (if any) in connectors would REDUCE current in the light circuit.

So the old fuse went because of a short circuit, too low rating for the bulbs actually in your headlights, or plain old age.
Because of side and reversing lights acting up, I would check all these wires (and the earthings), physically and electrically.
You may have a loose wire, that made a short when your fuse went.

regards Boudewijn

[Mr Clifford]

ijbd said:

hmm,

I would say extra resistance (if any) in connectors would REDUCE current in the light circuit.

So the old fuse went because of a short circuit, too low rating for the bulbs actually in your headlights, or plain old age.
Because of side and reversing lights acting up, I would check all these wires (and the earthings), physically and electrically.
You may have a loose wire, that made a short when your fuse went.

regards Boudewijn

[Mr Clifford]

Mr Clifford said:

Mechanic friend says that sometimes by just pushing in or taking out old fuses and putting them back in can get you a better connection and may jump things back into life.

Therefore may not be a short.
So will now wait and see what happens next. But also have replaced many of the old fuses with some new ones that I had already.

Thanks, Adrian

[phillpot]

ijbd said:

hmm,
I would say extra resistance (if any) in connectors would REDUCE current in the light circuit.

Yes, you're probably quite right but I'd still check through all connections and earth points plus of course bulbs and bulb holders for tarnish, corrosion, security etc.