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neilcmusic

Active Member
Treated myself to drive in the Series 3 last week , spark on dash shelf just above gearstick where hazard lights/fog light switch have been fitted ( not by me , a good while back) , since then the headlights are not working however everything else is including full beam . No obvious burnt wires etc , think it was 2 wires which hadn't been taped off touching , Had a look at fuses on steering column all seem good however everything works even with them removed which I don't understand! , I will check bulbs tommorow , am I missing anything obvious? , I'm as curious about the fuses as I am about the headlights now .
Thanks
 
Just had had another look and realised full beam comes on on one of the lights when sidelights are on but if you switch to headlights on (and they don't come on )and pull full beam then full beam comes on on both ?
 
If there has been a spark then there has been a short. Surely this needs looking at first before you both go up in a cloud of smoke! :) it could be that some wires have fused together.
 
Yeah I'll have a proper look tommorow in the hrs daylight that we seem to be getting recently , to be honest there are two wires that should be taped off and aren't , I think they were for spotlights and they may have hit one of the many spanners and nuts and bolts rolling around , there doesn't seem to be any burnt or damaged wires at all
 
neilcmusic said:
I think that I'm going to have a look at the the bullet connectors behind the grill , I think I had an issue with them a few years back , ill have a look in the morning
Click to expand...
That's the likely cause of that kind of intermittent problem.
 
Because there is a live feed on the wrong side of the fuse. At least it means you won't blow a fuse when you get a short. Might catch fire though, so it's swings and roundabouts really.
 
I've just removed the steering column (I've had a new indicator stalk about 18 months ago ) I notice that if I touch the two blue wires at the top of the stalk everything works correctly , 1 is blue and 1 is blue/red does that mean a new stalk or should these wires be connected somewhere else , as I say new stalk seems good , technically I suppose I could bridge the gap between the two points but I don't really want to bodge it
 

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Just had another look I think bridging the wires just put full beam on so that doesn't solved the issue , would 1 bulb going stop both headlights working , the full beam/headlights are on one bulb , getting frustrated now , I can check bulbs , any advice on how to check the switch
 
Don't think the switch is the problem if one bulb is working.
You could try a temp earth lead. Run a wire to the -ve battery terminal and touch the other end to the earths on the bulb. If the bulb works then you have a bad earth.

If you put a bulb in series with the same wire, you can use it to test the feeds to the bulb, I.e if the bulb lights there is power.

My money is on earth problem.
 
Checking a switch is straight forward if you've got a multimeter. (Google "how to check a switch with a multimeter" if in doubt)

Make a continuity check between the in and out points

I've not looked at the wiring diagrams for series 3 models before but most of the electrickery on my series 2a isn't fused (and alarmingly is meant to be that way!)
 
Still nothing , annoying as hell now , I've tried everything suggested , any other ideas please ? Bulbs ok , fuses seem ok , switch is ok because I've switched spades for dim/full beam and the full beam works on headlight spade , its as simple as there not being a live feed to the bulbs , is there a specific fuse that feeds the headlights alone , Haynes says not ?
 
Ok the blue/white wire that feeds the full beam is live , can I split the blue/white so that it also feeds the headlights , I'm assuming that will work? You only ever use full beam when headlights are on anyway
 
At the front by the radiator panel [At the bullet connectors off side] swap the blue white and blue red wires that come from the cab if dips come on then fault is likely to be the switch .
Or alternatively get a short piece of wire bared at both ends place one end on the blue red at the column switch [lower side below blue ] and connect the other end to blue at the column switch with the switch in the normal position not main beam , if dipped lights work the fault is in the column switch.
If so try putting a strip of white paper between the contacts by the blue white with paper in place there should be some resistance when you try to pull it out.
Check the paper if it is dirty and some resistance to pulling do it again with a little wd40 or electrical cleaning spray till paper comes out clean.
The quality of replacement column switches are very poor that is why lots lof owners are adding relays to the headlights so the column switch only carries the current to energise a relay.
 
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