headlight problem....
Turbo Mini Forums

Why have my main beams stopped working?!

The blubs are fine as are the fuses but for some unknown reason theres no power getting through!!

The car is a 1994 Cooper SPi... is this a common problem?

Alex

AlexF

Is there a dim/dip resistor on the passenger side inner wing/bulkhead area?

could be knackered or have a faulty connection... dont really know much about the injection models, cant see there being to much difference in that area though



although.... you might want to swap the "blubs" for bulbs......

Edited by Kean on 28th Aug, 2005.

no I like my blubs

hehehe

Theres alot of stuff on the inner wing!!

But the wiring seems to follow ever mini I've ever worked on... which kinda leaves me wondering what the 7 relays are for in the engine bay!!

ALex

AlexF

coyuld be the big pink relay under the dash, could be the wiring in the front slam panel. :)

turbo 16v k-series 11.9@118.9 :)

Denis O'Brien.

where under the dash?

Alex

AlexF

to the right of the driver, quite a large pink/red relay

are the stalks ok?

is your horn still working? they both run off the same fuse

fuses are fine...

as is the stalk!

alex

AlexF

Sorry to do a Vegard here, but did you ever get this resolved?

My side lights are working fine, but the Main/dipped beams have stopped working. I've check the pink/red relay (swapped with a know working one).

I've had a look at the stalks and it sparks quite a bit and the wires get hot when on. I think that there is a short somewhere as both sides of the switch are live before they connect.

Any ideas?

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Hi,
Try unplugging the resistor on the bulkhead...
If not post back up with which colour wires are live and I'll try to help you out.
Cheers,
Gavin :)

VEMs Authorised Installer / Re-seller. K head kits now available!

WB/EGT gauges. Click here for customers write-up

Visit www.doyouneedabrain.co.uk

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What does the resistor look like on the bulkhead?

To be honest I think that someone has messed about with all the wiring on my car. There's additional red wires everywhere.

When it all worked 'properly', before I changed the engine over the following happened...

When I push the left stick forward (Usually full beam) It sets the lights to dipped beam and vice-versa.

It seems that I've now got a short somewhere as the thick blue wire (that becomes live when the headlight switch it on position 2) is connected to an earth, when the stalk is pressed forwards.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

The panel switch should be:

Brown (for main feed to light switch - battery feed, so should be unfused - this makes the copper pin on the back of the swich hot in use and this can burn out of the plastic swich body thereby isolating the internal swict contacts),

Blue (which goes off to the Dim Dip Resistor and to the column stalk for dip and main beam - from memory, it also feeds the Rear Fog relay),

Red (feed to Dim Dip Relay and Side Lights).

When working properly, if ignition is off, the first dash switch will feed the sidelights directly. If ignition is on, the Dim Dip Resistor allows a low voltage feed to the dipped beam bulbs making them glow dull but only when ignition is on.

The blue is the tricky one. It only feeds the dip and main beam bulbs under normal stalk operation. The same feed is applied to the stalk for dip and main beams so if there's a problem, it's most likely from the stalk to the bulbs rather than from the feed to the stalk, especially if the dip is working ok.

If you need to flash someone, then there is a purple (or is it purple/Black) that feeds the pull up flasher on the stalk directly - the blue plays no part in this. Assume your main beam flash works ?

Worth checking you get full operation like by checking continuity between dash switch, stalk and flash pull-up operation. The blue wire should not got straight to earth as it's carrying a live feed straight from the battery - it's unfused so be careful.

Richard.

Minivanless, but reluctantly happy living with the decision. There'll be another one day.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=minimadmotorman#p/u

Ok quick update.

It seems that my car has had a pair of relays fitted (12v 60A) for the main and dipped beams. Both have stopped working at the same time?? Strange?

I couldn't get hold of any replacement relays of the same spec (only a 12v 40A) Do you think that these would be sufficient? The bulbs are 55W each.

or...

Should I just bypass the relays altogether? All of the wiring seems man enough.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Hi,
You shouldn't need the relays with 55W bulbs.
Cheers,
Gavin :)

VEMs Authorised Installer / Re-seller. K head kits now available!

WB/EGT gauges. Click here for customers write-up

Visit www.doyouneedabrain.co.uk

My Mini build diary

That's what I thought.

I've bridged the connections and all seems good so far.

In the 13's at last!.. Just