Nick Woods Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 My headlamps are working intermittently at the moment. The symptom is that the main on off switch turns on the sidelights but not the headlamps. I suspect a bad connection somewhere, especially as its intermittent, and after fiddling with connections etc it worked for a while but then went off again. Eventually we fed the permanent live feed that goes into the headlamp flashers into the main-dip switch and that got us home. However as all our rewiring was done in the dark I'm not sure which wire is which anymore Can someone please let me know the colours of the main feed wire into the on-off switch, the main-dip switch and the headlamp flashers ? Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Edited by - Nick Woods on 18 Feb 2003 22:57:40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Nick , This is not an uncommon problem, oftern its the switch its self you can take them apart and clean them up . But its a lot better to replace as there not very expensive. main feed, 12v surpply BROWN earth, BLACK. ok i,l try and explain this as best i can . you have a five pin plug , O1 O2 O3 O4 O5 O1/NO WIRE. O2/ BROWN BLUE O3/BLACK O4/RED O5/BLUE. HOPE THIS HELPS , Give me a ring if you get stuck , i have a couple of Caterham wiring diag.s Edited by - Marc Hicks on 18 Feb 2003 23:16:35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 18, 2003 Author Share Posted February 18, 2003 We tried using the fan switch instead but it made no difference, nor did touching the wires together, which is why i'm wondering if its a broken connection. Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Have you checked the earths and fuses 🤔 flares n, flames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Nick ,can you understand my explanation 🤔 *arrowup* flares n, flames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Thanks Mark I've had a quick check using a test lamp and this is what I've found The feed into the main lights on-off switch is ok, and both outputs (ie side and main lights) from it go on and off with the switch. However, the feed that goes into the main-dip switch is intermittent, and I have seen a voltage and then not seen a voltage despite the output from the on-off switch being present all the while. Therefore I'm reasonably happy that the on-off switch isnt the problem. The lights work fine when fed the main-dip switch is connected to the always-on feed that goes to the lamp flashers, so I'm fairly happy its not the main-dip switch either I'm working on the assumption that there must be something between the output of the on-off switch and the input of the main-dip switch. 🤔 Are there any relays or wiring junctions between the output of the on-off switch and the input of the main-dip switch. 🤔 Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan7 Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Nick Had similar problem on my 1998 1.6k - loose relay (under the dash passenger side) - just a shot in the dark Try to trace the routes - this is my setup LIGHT SWITCH BROWN/BLUE - main 12v power(from Ignition Switch) + Flasher Switch RED - side lights BLUE - relay (pin86) FLASHER SWITCH BROWN BLUE - Light switch BLUE/WHITE - Main Beam + Dip switch DIP SWITCH BLUE/WHITE - Main Beam + Flasher Switch BLUE - Relay (pin 87) BLUE/RED - Dipped Beam RELAY PIN 30 - 12v supply PIN 85 - Earth PIN 86 - Light switch PIN 87 - Dip switch There are 2 power supplies to the Main Beam. 1 = The flasher switch has 12v suppy constantly (via the ignition switch through the light switch) 2 = The light switch activates the relay (via pin 86 & earth). When activated the relay connects pin 30 to pin 87 to give power to the dip switch. Hope this helps Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Thanks Alan I was rather hoping that there was a relay somewhere between the two switches but I probably would have thought of looking under the passenger side of the dash for it. I'll have a look round tonight and see if it is the problem Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Nick, looking from the passenger seat , left to right. Horn relay / LIGHT RELAY/ hazard relay /Flasher relay. I think thats right (taken from caterham wiring diagram) flares n, flames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan7 Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Marc/Nick Definate 😳 All I did was take it out, clean the pins & put it back. 😬 Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Thanks again when i said "probably would have thought" what I meant was "probably would'nt have thought". Doh ! Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Edited by - Nick Woods on 19 Feb 2003 10:46:58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 I've just spent a frustrating hour out in the garage. Initially i removed and replaced what I think is the light relay (2nd from the top) and it seemed to work ok. After putting the light switches back (they are soooooo fiddly) I tried again but they had stopped working, so i swapped the top two relays over (they are the same type) and the lights started working again. I couldnt see any loose wires or connections although I ended up working with an inspection lamp as the main light in the garage failed I'm hoping that two new relays (i'll replace both because I'm not sure which is which anymore) and new light switches will cure it. I'll also have a better look for loose wires at the weekend. Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 My indicators packed up last summer and it turned out to be a loose relay. I blamed my brother-in-law since he was the last passenger 😬 Nick, Amazing what lengths you'll go to to fabricate a decent alibi for your none show last night. Just be honest like me and tell them you won't drive it in the dark/salt/wet/winter (delete as applicable) 😬 😬 😬 😬 *tongue* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Hah ! Remember I have a witness this time (if only we had a 'tongue sticking out' smilie) 😬 😬 😬 When we stopped at Nicks Diner at i thought there were lumps of ice on the rear wings - they turned out to be salt crystals *eek*. Having said that if it had been peeing down with rain I probably would have wimped out, I hate driving a night in the wet no matter what car I'm in I had one small 'brown trouser' moment on the way home when we slid on some ice on one of the back roads near Wymondham but fortunately it was only a short skid. It did bring back some unpleasant memories though 😳 Back to the lights, I thought it was a loose relay but it did it again a few minutes later, so i'm going to buy new ones just to rule out a dodgy one. The only other thing is that the wiring was disturbed when the car was rebuilt, so something else may have worked just a little bit loose Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark H Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Edited by - Marc Hicks on 19 Feb 2003 23:09:57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Woods Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Ah, that'll be the one then. Durrrr !! 😳 😳 😳 😳 Nick P8MRA - Red and Black 1.6K supersport, back on the road at last. See pictures of it being rebuilt here Edited by - Nick Woods on 20 Feb 2003 09:07:10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now