Jiyles Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hi All, I have a 2003 defender 90 td5. Couple of weeks back I kept realising the headlights did not seem on. Would flash the full beams and they would start working again. Was driving down through France and the problem suddenly happened again, but there was no fixing it. I can flash the full beams on the indicator stalk but I can't get the full beams to come on when pushing the stalk forwards, nor do the regular headlights come on at all. I know there have been many posts about this, I have read the majority. Am try into fix it myself as am in the middle of nowhere. Have taken apart the steering column. The indicator stalk switch looks fine!! But other than corrosion I'm not sure what I should be looking for?!? The terminals come into contact fine! The relay switch (I think) is definitely making a noise when I switch the headlights between the 2 positions on the low get switch. Questions: Do the terminals / wires on the switch just pull off? Is this the best way to inspect them better? Going to buy a multimeter tomorrow to try and see if power is running through the switch, I'm Relatively a novice with a multimeter, any advice on how and where to connect it? I'm guessing I want to measure the volts passing through? If the full beams are working am I right in thinking the bulbs must be fine? I've taken a look at the fuses under the drivers seat and they seem fine, is there a second fuse box I should be looking at?? Many thanks In advance for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hi, my past experience is that the stalk contacts on older British vehicles are brass strips with domed contacts at the end. These become weak and the contacts become corroded. Realy and switch contacts use the preasure and movement to self clean, as the become week they neither self clean nor have much contact at all which leads to a high resistance. You can clean with a finger nail sanding board and then blow the dust out, weak spring strips can be retensioned by working in a slight bow but go too far and the contacts won't meet up and it is easy to mess up. Five years in my first job just cleaning and tensioning relay contacts in a telephone exchane drives you nuts! As has been said in a similar recent thread, a multimeter is not good for detecting high resistance when used for voltage checking, better to set to resistance and with the power off measure across the contacts but the swtch cable needs to be disconected from the rest of the vehicle to avoid false readings. I have experienced a meter showing good voltage across a completely open switch as that is how voltage works, a test lead and bulb is better for this. Good luck, Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Almost certainly the light switch on the column itself, they are well known as a failure point. You may get away with a contact clean for now, the ultimate fix is to add relays to take the current. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 use a test light to check for voltage a multimeter has a built in battery, so it can give false info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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