Defender 90 - eletrical issues

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LoamRanger

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Hi All,

This is my first post, I apologise in advance if this is the wrong section! I will try to be as descriptive as possible with my issues.

Vehicle details: Defender 90, 1992, 2.5 diesel

1) I recently had a new water pump fitted, when i got the landy back, i noticed that the diff lock light would come on and then go off. It now stays on permanent. The difflock stick seems free and can easily engaged/disengage between the high & low box. I dont have a jack big enough to turn the wheel by hand and see if the diff lock is engaged when in gear and difflock neutral, but it appeares to drive as normal.

2) Today when i turned the ignition, but not turning the engine over, there is a series of rapid clicks. The speedometer gauge jumps, the clicks go off and the speedometer returns to 0. The engine then turns over fine.

3) In relation to point 2, the temp gauge just goes straight upto red. I have been watching the gauge for a week or so now and sometimes it will sit in the center of the white band, sometimes it will be at the top end of the white band and now it just goes staright upto the red!

4) I have now noticed that there is a very faint light behind the head light symbol and the dash panel and when the indicators are turned left or right the trailer hitch symbol also flashes.


Edit: I have also reversed the truck to try releave the transmition wind up to get the diff lock light to go off, but light still stays on. (not really sure what the wind up means, read it somewhere so tried) Please note i have not been using the difflock either, its been on the road mainly.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Mark
 
Last edited:
So diff lock and the second bit of point two are (likely) mechanical issues.

Unless your speedo has been changed, it is driven by a turning cable from the transfer box. Therefore if the speedo was increasing, it means that the transfer box was moving. If you're vehicle wasn't moving, this likely means somethings broke.

The starter clicking normally means that there's not enough power to to spin the motor.

points 3 & 4 you should leave till 1 & 2 are sorted.
 
Have you done many miles like this, and is there any smell of burning? I think that you may have a short circuit behind the dash panel or in the loom. Try removing the panel and see what you can see.
 
done quite a few miles with the difflock light on. Have done about 2 miles getting home with the other issues.
No smell of burning noticed.

Will have a look at the wiring tomorrow morning
 
......so, been looking at all the wiring in the dash and all connections etc look fine. I started looking at the negative cable that come from the battery.

The cable come out through the panel, bolt to the transfer box, another piece of cable then bolts to the chassis. The piece of cable that runs from the battery to the transfer box has an exposed section and looks like its a broken ground/earth connection, but i cannot see where it broke from.

It does touch on the ground cable from the transfer box to the chassis loosely. It doesnt look right, would this be giving me eletrical geadache etc?

10178111_498697170278555_2513619334228373373_n.jpg
 
Poor earth's often result in random lights coming on as the power try's to find it's way back to the negative. The speedo cable is favorite for this and can get rather hot.
 
I guess my question should be, is the battery supposed to be gounded some where on the vehicle before connecting to the gear box?
 
It sounds a little like an earth problem to me. I don't think there's anything much wrong with earth cables touching - after all, they all go to the same place. It's how the warning lights and instruments earth that could be a problem. You can't usually feel much difference in driving with the difflock on, but it certainly puts a lot more wear and tear on the tyres and transmission when you're on a non-slippy surface. Is there no way of getting a wheel off the ground to check? Just a little bottle jack under the axle near the relevant wheel will do it.
 
For how much they cost I'd replace the earth cables and maybe put a couple more on. Mine runs from the battery to the side of the gearbox then onto the chassis, I've also put on from the engine to the chassis and from the bulkhead to the chassis
 
It's difficult to come up with a complete diagnosis from that picture, but here's a short stab at what I think that I see!

Your car has been rewired. (It's an usual old landy that hasn't though).

Earth connections from chassis to gearbox/engine etc.. are usually not insulated. So a strap with damaged insulation isn't a problem.

All I can see in the pic are heavy cables, which are probably all earths.

If it was the wire going to the switch on the transfer box that you were talking about, then that would certainly cause the difflock light to illuminate. but this is a lot thinner than anything in the pic.

Here's one test. Connect a jump lead from the battery negative to the transfer box, and then try the key switch to see if the faults disappear. (In theory the earth straps should be providing this path, and any one strap should be OK, but basics need checking!).
 
I tried as above jumping the battery to the transfer box, but made no difference. checked the speedo cable and couldnt see anything out of sorts from what i could see.

I rebuilt the dash back the way it was before, reinstalled and connected the instrument panels, connected the battery, turned over the vihicle and now my over heating issue and warning lights on the dash panel have all disappeared, with the exception of the difflock light.:confused: its good but would like to know the issue still.

I invested in a large jack and got it today, had everything in neutral, tried to rotate the font wheel and would lock up.

Played about with the difflock lever (tried some force) but could not get it to disengage.

Im guessing the elctrical issues with overheating is something todo with the loom behind the dash, maybe me moving sstuff about has stopped it short circuit? and nothing mechanical.

Its clear i have a mechanical issue with the difflock, any usuaul suspects i should check wiith the difflock? whilst i read up on this issue

Thanks
 
Your front wheel lock up may just be due to the axle diff. try turning it very slowly. All the other symptoms, including the diff lock light, sound like an earth fault. If your battery is charged OK, and you are getting clicking from the starter, your engine earth is likely poor. You cannot always go by how they look. Disconnect the earth connections, clean the connection points and remake - including at the battery.
 
I tried again slowly, but same result it locked after a short rotation.

On Thursday i went for a drive and for the first 60 miles, the difflock light did not appear. It then popped on and remained on for the journey.

On Friday morning i drove 70 miles the difflock light did not come on once, Friday evening the light is on again and same today.

With the light coming on and off, not sure if its mechanical or elctrical now.
 
diff lock light is a basic switch. when the lever moves to diff lock position it pushes a metal rod which earths the live wire from the dash. hence the lamp lights up.

go have a look under on your xfer box, drivers side. find the wire.. has it come away from the spade and is randomly hitting the metal casing and earthing causing the light to go on?
 
If trax's suggestion doesn't work go back under the Landy and disconnect the diff lock wire then tie wrap it out of the way. Now use the Landy for a day. If the light stays off then it's likely the switch. They are very cheap so try changing it. I removed the tunnel and gave the top of the gearbox, transfer box and all the linkages a good clean and lube when I replaced mine.
 
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