brake lights

Post by **Vart** » 29 Aug 2007 11:56 pm

would there be a regular culprit for these to suddenly stop working? i've just driven from suffolk to portsmouth and found a text saying check them as i arrived. checked, dead as mutton. according to the manual they work from the same fuse as the fan heater on setting 3 which works. not that unless the manuals wrong....

this is all guess work as its too dark to do anything but i need to sort the out before friday evening for the return trip. could it be something to do with te earthing in the rear cluster? brake light switch behind the pedal? can't imagine its both bulbs blown at the same time but ill check. any info greatly appreciated.

cheers

Post by **kaos** » 30 Aug 2007 12:21 am

check the earth mine keeps goign because of this.

Post by **Chris_C** » 30 Aug 2007 01:21 am

Kaos, for the earth, have a nosey in the how to section, I put a post in there for a permanent cure to that.

Vart, I'm guessing all two/three have gone? In this case, I'd suspect the switch primarily, I knocked one out of line in Kar, just screw it in a few turns if so. Otherwise it goes through fuse 12, then through the grey bulkhead/fusebox connector, pins 8 then 15 according to the green book, so give those a wiggle too as they can be a right pain.

Try following the wire with a multimeter on voltage, and see where abouts you loose the +12V

Post by **Vart** » 30 Aug 2007 12:59 pm

hmm, well i took the plate off the driver side rear cluster to find some tracts of melty plastic and some wires from the stop/tail lights with melted insulation. bulbs looked ok but didn't work. replaced and now i think they work but being daytime and being on my own its hard to check. wrapped up wires in new tape but i think the whole lot will need grounding properly at some point.

cheers for help

Post by **ajdubas** » 30 Aug 2007 06:39 pm

ok... I have a similar question...

have fixed the earthing fault on my rear brake light, it worked for a while and has now broken and left me stumped.

There are 12V across the bulb, continuity from bulb negative to ground and the bulb doesn't look broken and has a reasonable resistance across it, which would suggest it's working ok.

Any ideas?

Post by **Chris_C** » 30 Aug 2007 06:49 pm

Did you solder that wire onto the lamp holder mate? From that I'd say either... still an earthing fault, and not enought current can pass to light the bulb but there is to trip the meter, or the bulbs knackered... which you say it isn't!

Post by **kaos** » 31 Aug 2007 01:17 am

chris mine's more related to the actual plugs that connect to the lights they slowly slip of occasionally:)

Post by **Chris_C** » 31 Aug 2007 10:36 am

Ah, never seen that! More than likely too tbh, just hadn't crossed my mind. Can you get the white cover slid back and bend them a bit to get them to hold better mate?

Post by **Vart** » 31 Aug 2007 12:35 pm

after see what hapens in the dark last night they still do strange things. the brake light lights up when i push the pedal but with the side lights on it illuminates the section constantly and the lights dont show on braking. any ideas?

cheers

Post by **kaos** » 31 Aug 2007 04:15 pm

Chris_C wrote:Ah, never seen that! More than likely too tbh, just hadn't crossed my mind. Can you get the white cover slid back and bend them a bit to get them to hold better mate?

happened twice now same side different bulbs lol. its not too annoying its just more the worry if its a bulb gone because they cost a fiar bit these days.