Headlamp Switch
Discussion
Hi guys.
As some of you may have read, I'm new to 'Wedging'!
I picked my first TVR up after work this evening and absolutely loved it driving home.
So, by then it's dark and I took a mate out for a drive, and all was great, until I flicked full beam on down a fairly narrow road at around 50mph and suddenly all the lights go out!
It kinda added to the excitement but I feel it could become tiresome on a long journey!
Anyway, after some fumbling around with the switch whilst parked in a bus stop and after they popped up and down quite a few times and relays clicked behind the dash they came back on.
I'm guessing it's the switch, so does anyone know if the main light switch is from another car or if / where I can get a new one?
Thanks,
Martin.
I forgot to mention, it's a 1989 350i.
As some of you may have read, I'm new to 'Wedging'!
I picked my first TVR up after work this evening and absolutely loved it driving home.
So, by then it's dark and I took a mate out for a drive, and all was great, until I flicked full beam on down a fairly narrow road at around 50mph and suddenly all the lights go out!
It kinda added to the excitement but I feel it could become tiresome on a long journey!
Anyway, after some fumbling around with the switch whilst parked in a bus stop and after they popped up and down quite a few times and relays clicked behind the dash they came back on.
I'm guessing it's the switch, so does anyone know if the main light switch is from another car or if / where I can get a new one?
Thanks,
Martin.
I forgot to mention, it's a 1989 350i.
Edited by ROOODBOY on Friday 12th February 23:26
ROOODBOY said:
Hi guys.
As some of you may have read, I'm new to 'Wedging'!
I picked my first TVR up after work this evening and absolutely loved it driving home.
So, by then it's dark and I took a mate out for a drive, and all was great, until I flicked full beam on down a fairly narrow road at around 50mph and suddenly all the lights go out!
It kinda added to the excitement but I feel it could become tiresome on a long journey!
Anyway, after some fumbling around with the switch whilst parked in a bus stop and after they popped up and down quite a few times and relays clicked behind the dash they came back on.
I'm guessing it's the switch, so does anyone know if the main light switch is from another car or if / where I can get a new one?
Thanks,
Martin.
Might not be the main lights switch though, it could be the dip/flash switch playing billy suggers.As some of you may have read, I'm new to 'Wedging'!
I picked my first TVR up after work this evening and absolutely loved it driving home.
So, by then it's dark and I took a mate out for a drive, and all was great, until I flicked full beam on down a fairly narrow road at around 50mph and suddenly all the lights go out!
It kinda added to the excitement but I feel it could become tiresome on a long journey!
Anyway, after some fumbling around with the switch whilst parked in a bus stop and after they popped up and down quite a few times and relays clicked behind the dash they came back on.
I'm guessing it's the switch, so does anyone know if the main light switch is from another car or if / where I can get a new one?
Thanks,
Martin.
'88 350i... probably the ex-Rover SD1 column switchgear then... unless you have the stumpy Granada switchgear. Either way you'd get spare switches off Ebay easily enough.
Some blurb here:
http://www.wedgeneering.co.uk/TVR%20390SE%20p6.htm
ROOODBOY said:
Haha, yeah I'm used to rubbish headlamps, so that's not a problem!
Do the lamp pods always wobble about a lot too..?
Or is it something I should be able to sort out, mine shake like mad!
TR7 motors hanging off some TVR metalwork, connected to the pods by linkages that can wear. More usually it's the rubber bump stops (arf arf) that are Kerry Packer'ed - there should be bits of rubber hose attached to the bottoms of the pods inside the nose, so that when the pods are up the hose is squashed against the shell and stops the pod wobbling. Which it doesn't, of course. On the TR7 there was a bloody great spring to push the pod up, while the motor pulled it down, so the tension of the spring keeps the pod still. TVR didn't do it that way Do the lamp pods always wobble about a lot too..?
Or is it something I should be able to sort out, mine shake like mad!
Mind you neither did Lotus, who used the same motors on the Esprit and their pods don't wobble...Feel free to adjust the bits of rubber hose though
The main reason the wedge lights are poo is... well, several reasons really. First, the beam pattern of the old 7" lenses wasn't exactly scientific, not like it is nowadays. My car throws two humungous pools of light on the road... 17 feet in front of you. And 7 feet of that is the bonnet
Second, the supply to the lights is like a map of the London Underground. It goes all over the shop before it gets down to the nose, by which time there's enough resistance in series with the filaments that you'd get more light by rubbing the Cheeky Girls together.
I made up a short loom that takes the battery current straight down to the pods, leaving all the existing wiring just to switch two 30A relays. Lo and behold, I can see things before I drive into them. Still can't stop of course, must get those 4-pots fitted...
Second, the supply to the lights is like a map of the London Underground. It goes all over the shop before it gets down to the nose, by which time there's enough resistance in series with the filaments that you'd get more light by rubbing the Cheeky Girls together.
I made up a short loom that takes the battery current straight down to the pods, leaving all the existing wiring just to switch two 30A relays. Lo and behold, I can see things before I drive into them. Still can't stop of course, must get those 4-pots fitted...
Comadis said:
first of all: your described problem has NOTHING to do with the main beam stalk. (by the way, the stalks are ford-items)
Wrong. Read what he wrote, again. He said he switched from dip to main beam and then the lights went out. Then they came back on. If it was a blown diode it would stay blown, it wouldn't work when it felt like it. The dip/main switch however can arc over the contacts, causing loss of current flow which makes the lights relay drop out.
I find with swich problems - especially if you don't use the car much - flick the switch on and off about 20-30 times, which cleans up the conacts, and it all works again. Worth a try and saves a bunch of time finding/changing switches and the posibility of damaging veneer in the process.
its definately not the stalk!!!
i have the same problem on my car. it only appears if you switch on the lights and change to high beam in the next 2 minutes (or so). if the lights are already ON for a longer period, you can change from low to high beam as often as you like and the pods stay open.
as i have such stalks (new ones) always in stock as spare for my other cars, i changed it...and the problem remained.
i have the same problem on my car. it only appears if you switch on the lights and change to high beam in the next 2 minutes (or so). if the lights are already ON for a longer period, you can change from low to high beam as often as you like and the pods stay open.
as i have such stalks (new ones) always in stock as spare for my other cars, i changed it...and the problem remained.
Comadis said:
its definately not the stalk!!!
i have the same problem on my car. it only appears if you switch on the lights and change to high beam in the next 2 minutes (or so). if the lights are already ON for a longer period, you can change from low to high beam as often as you like and the pods stay open.
as i have such stalks (new ones) always in stock as spare for my other cars, i changed it...and the problem remained.
Such a problem must mean your car is only worth 100 of our Engislh pounds.i have the same problem on my car. it only appears if you switch on the lights and change to high beam in the next 2 minutes (or so). if the lights are already ON for a longer period, you can change from low to high beam as often as you like and the pods stay open.
as i have such stalks (new ones) always in stock as spare for my other cars, i changed it...and the problem remained.
Much better to buy a car where everything works
Thanks for your help guys.
I think it's the switch and just coincedence that it happened when I switched on full beam, as several times when I've switched the lights on the pods have come up but no lights on the dash until I jiggled the switch a little bit.
Anyone know what cars that switch was also fitted to?
Thanks.
I think it's the switch and just coincedence that it happened when I switched on full beam, as several times when I've switched the lights on the pods have come up but no lights on the dash until I jiggled the switch a little bit.
Anyone know what cars that switch was also fitted to?
Thanks.
ROOODBOY said:
Thanks for your help guys.
I think it's the switch and just coincedence that it happened when I switched on full beam, as several times when I've switched the lights on the pods have come up but no lights on the dash until I jiggled the switch a little bit.
Anyone know what cars that switch was also fitted to?
Thanks.
EBAY Item 230437490442 I think it's the switch and just coincedence that it happened when I switched on full beam, as several times when I've switched the lights on the pods have come up but no lights on the dash until I jiggled the switch a little bit.
Anyone know what cars that switch was also fitted to?
Thanks.
ATB, Mike
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