weird electrical problem!!

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
thrasher

thrasher

Active Member
Posts
161
Location
isle of arran
hi there,first off electrics are not my strong point lol, any way my defender 300tdi temp gauge went into the red the other day so stopped expecting the worse but serpintine belt fine and no overheating??? so got back in put lights back on, but noticed the dash light for heated rear window was slightly lit put lights off and heated screen light went out also temp gauge went to middle ie normal,so it only seems to happen when lights are on also the interior lights are dimmer with main lights on? any ideas?
cheers gus
 
not a great deal of help but pull the dash forward and see if there are any loose wires, abnormalities etc.

I do know that your guages will read full if not earthed (well fuel will anyway) so make sure there is an earth lead/loop from the housing of the guage to the other guages.

G
 
When i was fitting my 2nd fuel gauge it was always topping out in the red even though the tank was bone dry. I was told that the 300tdi's have to have the gauges earthed. this is for the temp gauge also. there will be a harness on both gauges thats earths the body.

It may not be this. but its worth undoing a few screws and spending 10minutes looking.

electrickery is a dark art :(

G
 
bustersbus said:
Might be a dodgy sender if the earths are ok.... either that, ye've bin hammerin' up goat fell wi a trailer on!:p;)
Click to expand...

nah :rolleyes: i pull this full to the top with a 2.5n/a and it never goes above half on the temp, fuel goes down quick tho :D

DSC00279.jpg
 
Sounds very much like an earthing problem. I suspect it is something at the rear. Maybe one of you tail lights as it sounds like current is earthing back through the heated rear window, through the dash light and then back through the fuel guage(or the other wY round. Suggest you get those covers off the back of the rear light pods and heck the earths. Also check the earth to the rear window. Easy way of doing this is to get a long bit of cable connect it to the battery neg terminal and go around the landy with it and connect it to earth cables until he fault goes away. Just
make sure you connect it to earths and not lives as this will obviously blow fuses etc.

Also do you get any strange things happening with the lights outside?

One other thing to check is the strap earthing the engine to the battery
 
thanks for the help so far guys,havent had time to do anything as at work and dark when im going home,the main lights are well dim and the spot lights which are wired to come on full beam take a few seconds to light up and are also dim apart from the problem with temp gauge everything else seems to work ok indicators etc will chech out earths at weekend as jamescronin suggests and busterbus it goes up goatfell naebother without overheating lol
 
If things are comming on dim - def sounds like an earthing problem - i have a suspicion that the lights and the heated rear window are running in series with each other

Would not run like this for too long especialy with spots on as there is likely be a large amount of current flowing through something (a wire) not designed to take it somewhere
 
your rear door has an earth lead on it for the wiper motor and rear screen. Make up temp earth lead and check or remove rear door card and clean connections. My earth wire was burnt so needed replacing......job done! also look where the chassis loom exits the rear chassis leg (right side when facing rear of car) that sometimes rub's.

good luck
 
cheers so far had a look at all the main earths today all seem good,will check out wiring at rear tomorrow noticed it seems ok on sidelights but when main beam and dip on the rear indicators light up??? the indicators still work normal though,now this is weird when im in drivers seat if i move my weight sideways back and forth on seat it seems to effect the interor light/dash etc ie they flicker?????
 
Sounds like i had a very similar problem to yours, this week i replaced the main earth strap from the - battery terminal to the gearbox. I also made up straps to attach the engine to te chassis and the body to the gearbox earth point for good measure as i didnt have them before. Now my electrical issues are sorted too and i can actually see things when i have my lights on which is allways a plus!! :D

Ollie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cappers
Temp gauge reads hot when lights switched on....?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Rougharse Racing
Rougharse Racing
S
1988 90 replacing lights with LEDs and have lots of questions
Replies
5
Views
812
sleepybear
S
Atomician
Freelander 1 What fuse for dash backlights? (FL1 TD4 ES)
Replies
6
Views
557
Freddie17
Freddie17
R
LED side lights not working
Replies
9
Views
606
RickyFreelander
R
x5mms
Electrical fault -windows, heated seats and dash lights
Replies
11
Views
1K
x5mms
x5mms
Back
Top