New mini owner....first questions
Discussion
Just bought this for my fiance...
[url]www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/109985.htm[/url]
It looks and sounds great and has wonderful provenance. We drove home to London this evening on A22 and M25 and she didnt miss a beat following me in the elise. Couple of problems:
1. No rear lights when ignition on or off (as pointed out by several helpful drivers on the way home), and no side lights - loose wire or fuse?
2. No dash lighting behind speedo and tacho but light behind centre clock
3. Previous owner informed us speedo had stopped working a couple of days earlier!
I have the Haines manual - where should I start?
Many thanks in advance for any pointers.
Stuart and Dominique
[url]www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/109985.htm[/url]
It looks and sounds great and has wonderful provenance. We drove home to London this evening on A22 and M25 and she didnt miss a beat following me in the elise. Couple of problems:
1. No rear lights when ignition on or off (as pointed out by several helpful drivers on the way home), and no side lights - loose wire or fuse?
2. No dash lighting behind speedo and tacho but light behind centre clock
3. Previous owner informed us speedo had stopped working a couple of days earlier!
I have the Haines manual - where should I start?
Many thanks in advance for any pointers.
Stuart and Dominique
abz 7001 said:
Just bought this for my fiance...
[url]www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/109985.htm[/url]
It looks and sounds great and has wonderful provenance. We drove home to London this evening on A22 and M25 and she didnt miss a beat following me in the elise. Couple of problems:
1. No rear lights when ignition on or off (as pointed out by several helpful drivers on the way home), and no side lights - loose wire or fuse?
2. No dash lighting behind speedo and tacho but light behind centre clock
[url]www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/109985.htm[/url]
It looks and sounds great and has wonderful provenance. We drove home to London this evening on A22 and M25 and she didnt miss a beat following me in the elise. Couple of problems:
1. No rear lights when ignition on or off (as pointed out by several helpful drivers on the way home), and no side lights - loose wire or fuse?
2. No dash lighting behind speedo and tacho but light behind centre clock
These are almost certainly related. Start your search at the fusebox mounted on the engine side of the bulkhead. These are very prone to getting corroded connections, both between the fuses and the fuesholders, and the spade connectors that join the wiring loom to the fusebox. Failing side/instrument lights was the exact symptom one of my mini's suffered and this was the cause.
said:
3. Previous owner informed us speedo had stopped working a couple of days earlier!
Most likely the cable has broken or it has become disconnected at one end. You might be able to get your hand up from underneath the dash to feel if the cable is securely attached, if not the dash will probably need removing. At gearbox end the speedo drive is on the end of the box, the right hand side bottom of the engine if you are looking into the engine compartement.
Yeah, I got my arm stuck between the block and the bulkhead trying to tighten the speedo cable on one of mine a few years ago. Highly embarrasing; it was outside the girlfriend at the times house (who was at work) and I had to wait for someone to come out of one of the neighbour's houses and beg for fairy liquid to get my arm to squeeze out.
1 and 2 are almost certainly a bad connection on the fusebox. Just had exactly this problem getting mine ready for MOT. On mine, it was the bottom left connector on the fusebox as you look at it - but there's no guarantee it will be the same on all cars...
As for the speedo - personally I would just figure out what gear / revs combination represents the important speeds (30, 40, 60, 70 etc.) as the speedo cable is a pig of a job with the engine in.
As for the speedo - personally I would just figure out what gear / revs combination represents the important speeds (30, 40, 60, 70 etc.) as the speedo cable is a pig of a job with the engine in.
Miniman, wadgebeast, guru and Mike,cheers for the advice, had the cover off briefly last night and all 4 fuses are fine, will check all connections tonight as advised. Will leave the speedo until the weekend. Seems obvious now I think about it! Will let you know how we get on cheers.
Stuart & Dominique
Stuart & Dominique
After a couple of hours under the hood checking all levels etc I investigated the electrical issues as directed.....end result, now there are no headlights or main beam either!
Conclusion: I am a mechanical/electrical genius as only succeeded in making it worse!
Think it might be corrosion on end of one fuse so going to replace tonight, all connecotrs seemed fine and uncorroded however am convinced the problem centres on the fuse box or connectors as previously suggested! So far the corroded fuse ismy only lead.
She is having a full service on saturday morn so hope to resolve then with a voltmeter and all the necessary tools. Any further advice gratefully received.
Stuart & Dominique
Conclusion: I am a mechanical/electrical genius as only succeeded in making it worse!
Think it might be corrosion on end of one fuse so going to replace tonight, all connecotrs seemed fine and uncorroded however am convinced the problem centres on the fuse box or connectors as previously suggested! So far the corroded fuse ismy only lead.
She is having a full service on saturday morn so hope to resolve then with a voltmeter and all the necessary tools. Any further advice gratefully received.
Stuart & Dominique
I would take the fuses out, clean up and / or replace and clean up the fuse holder slots with a bit of fine emery cloth or wet + dry paper.
I'd also clean up the wiring terminals on the fusebox in the same way and make sure that the connector is making a good, tight fit with the terminals - you can give them a bit of a squeeze with a pair of pliers to tighten the grip on the terminals. Do each wire one at a time, though - if you take them all off, you'll never remember which one goes where!
Oh, and, take the -ve lead off the battery before you fiddle around with the wiring - some of those wires are permanently live!
I'd also clean up the wiring terminals on the fusebox in the same way and make sure that the connector is making a good, tight fit with the terminals - you can give them a bit of a squeeze with a pair of pliers to tighten the grip on the terminals. Do each wire one at a time, though - if you take them all off, you'll never remember which one goes where!
Oh, and, take the -ve lead off the battery before you fiddle around with the wiring - some of those wires are permanently live!
Been having a similar problem with the lights on my 83 City sidelights work OK on there own but when switched to headlights side and tail go out,switch knackered,keeps losing contact on sidelights in headlamps on position due to poor connection on plug making pin on switch hot melts plastic of switch,tried repairing,waste of time new switches are less than a tenner.
Thnaks for all your advice!
After 2 hours in driving rain on Saturday afternoon we can see again!!!
Turned out to be a combination of a dodgy fuse in position 1 and a dodgy connector on position 3. Replacing the fuse and doctoring the connector solved both problems, restored light to the headlights and fixed the dash, side and rear sidelight issue.
At the same time did a full service replacing all fluids, all ignition parts etc etc
Took her for a run and she is runnign sweetly - more and more convinced she was an absolute steal!
New problenm however - windscreen wipers packed up mid use on Sun afternoon. Is it a trip back to the fuse box or do I need to source a new motor? Rainex has come to the rescue in the meantime!
Mini ownership - love it
After 2 hours in driving rain on Saturday afternoon we can see again!!!
Turned out to be a combination of a dodgy fuse in position 1 and a dodgy connector on position 3. Replacing the fuse and doctoring the connector solved both problems, restored light to the headlights and fixed the dash, side and rear sidelight issue.
At the same time did a full service replacing all fluids, all ignition parts etc etc
Took her for a run and she is runnign sweetly - more and more convinced she was an absolute steal!
New problenm however - windscreen wipers packed up mid use on Sun afternoon. Is it a trip back to the fuse box or do I need to source a new motor? Rainex has come to the rescue in the meantime!
Mini ownership - love it
abz 7001 said:
New problenm however - windscreen wipers packed up mid use on Sun afternoon. Is it a trip back to the fuse box or do I need to source a new motor? Rainex has come to the rescue in the meantime!
Mini ownership - love it
Almost certainly a fuse again. Mine's done this twice in recent months and the interior fan also stopped working at the same time. Although the fuse looked OK visually, a quick test on the multimeter and iirc it was no 1 fuse that had blown.
timelord said:
Been having a similar problem with the lights on my 83 City sidelights work OK on there own but when switched to headlights side and tail go out,switch knackered,keeps losing contact on sidelights in headlamps on position due to poor connection on plug making pin on switch hot melts plastic of switch,tried repairing,waste of time new switches are less than a tenner.
Have you got one of those "Rocker Switch illumination" kits fitted? I had a problem with Headlight switches failing (pin getting hot and being forced away from headlight contact) as the current draw through all the illumination requiremenst + the headlights was over the rated capacity of switch/loom. Went through 3 swiches over 2 yr period, problem ended when I binned the switch illumination kit (I think it was a WP product).
Fwd racer - not that I know of, problem was down to a dodgy connector.
SlvrCerb - ah great, think I replaced that one at the weekend so will check connections etc
Any idea if it should be 17A or 35A, I seem to rememeber some confusion at the weekend as the old Lucas fuse said 17A continuous and then 35A under it, think we went with 35A if memory serves me correctly. New halogen headlights arrived too so can replace the candles it currently has on it! Woohoo!
Cheers again
Stuart
SlvrCerb - ah great, think I replaced that one at the weekend so will check connections etc
Any idea if it should be 17A or 35A, I seem to rememeber some confusion at the weekend as the old Lucas fuse said 17A continuous and then 35A under it, think we went with 35A if memory serves me correctly. New halogen headlights arrived too so can replace the candles it currently has on it! Woohoo!
Cheers again
Stuart
There is often confusion with fuse rating:
old Lucas fuses are rated at the current they blow ie 35A or (17A/35A as you have)
modern fuses are rated at their continuous load level.
So old Lucas 35A = a modern 17A.
You can work out what you need with the formula W=IV or W/V=I
where W= watts (total wattage of all the loads on the fuse)
I= current
v = voltage (12V notionally)
So for a pair of spotlight for eg (55Wx2) for the lights = 110 / 12 = about 9
so you need min. 10A fuse.
old Lucas fuses are rated at the current they blow ie 35A or (17A/35A as you have)
modern fuses are rated at their continuous load level.
So old Lucas 35A = a modern 17A.
You can work out what you need with the formula W=IV or W/V=I
where W= watts (total wattage of all the loads on the fuse)
I= current
v = voltage (12V notionally)
So for a pair of spotlight for eg (55Wx2) for the lights = 110 / 12 = about 9
so you need min. 10A fuse.
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