Headlights not Working...Relay Screaming at me :S
Discussion
1989 Mini City F Reg
Right bit of a strange one that needs solving urgently.
When i leave come to my car in the morning and try and turn the light on, the side lights come on fine, but flicking the switch to driving lights...the relay just screams at me and they dont come on.
After short time of screaming, and moving the switch to on and off, they might eventually come on...sometimes they dont.
Leaving me stranded when its dark :|
I replaced the relay and the great expense of £20...and the screaming has stopped, however, the driving lights still don't come on.
All the fuses are fine
The main beams can be still flashed on, but wont stay on obviously because the driving lights dont work.
Bit stummped and stuck at home during the hours of darkness, which at this time of year, is a lot.
Any help appreciated. Thanks
Right bit of a strange one that needs solving urgently.
When i leave come to my car in the morning and try and turn the light on, the side lights come on fine, but flicking the switch to driving lights...the relay just screams at me and they dont come on.
After short time of screaming, and moving the switch to on and off, they might eventually come on...sometimes they dont.
Leaving me stranded when its dark :|
I replaced the relay and the great expense of £20...and the screaming has stopped, however, the driving lights still don't come on.
All the fuses are fine
The main beams can be still flashed on, but wont stay on obviously because the driving lights dont work.
Bit stummped and stuck at home during the hours of darkness, which at this time of year, is a lot.
Any help appreciated. Thanks
It's a matter of trial and error,
1. Disconnect the connector from the switch (hopefully just 2 pins) and short the wires, check if lights come on.
2. IF not, pull the relay and short the feed to the light supply and check if the lights come on.
3. IF not, pull the bulb (I assume these are sealed units or halogens), connect it to the battery with some new wire, check if lights come on.
If 1 works, switch is shot.
If 2 works, relay is shot.
If 3 works, wiring is shot.
If 3 doesn't work, bulb has failed.
1. Disconnect the connector from the switch (hopefully just 2 pins) and short the wires, check if lights come on.
2. IF not, pull the relay and short the feed to the light supply and check if the lights come on.
3. IF not, pull the bulb (I assume these are sealed units or halogens), connect it to the battery with some new wire, check if lights come on.
If 1 works, switch is shot.
If 2 works, relay is shot.
If 3 works, wiring is shot.
If 3 doesn't work, bulb has failed.
annodomini2 said:
cpas said:
Check the earth 
Knew I missed something!For those not in the know, as a car does not have seperate return feeds back to the battery but used the main body as the return, if an earth from several lights gets detached from the body (or the connection rusts so it does not male a good contact) then the current will flow along the easiest route back to earth which is normally along another circuit or more than one circuit. Takes a while to get your head round at first but makes sense once you've thought about it
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