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Defender Headlight problem


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Hi all. I have a problem with my headlights on my 93 Defender 200tdi. When i switch the side lights on, The side lights will illuminate bright and the headlights are on but very dim! I have read in the Haynes manual that this is normal. All uk spec should do this! when i switch to main beam no change, Side lights are bright but the head lights dim. Ive check the switch and there is power. I cant understand why main beam dosnt work. Full beam works on flasher so that tells me the bulbs, fuses, earths are fine. Im confused.com

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Not all UK vehicles have dim dip, it was removed from the lighting regs sometime ago.

have you examined the wiring side of the indicator/dip/main stalk, there maybe a loose or disconnected wire there.

headlight flash is a totally seperate circuit at the stalk end.

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the main light switch only operates side lights & dip beam, it has no control over main [full] beam, that's done by pushing the stalk away from you then the blue main beam light comes on,

if your getting sidelights & dip beam, you need to examine the main beam wire which is blue with a white trace IIRC.

these are the connections at the stalk, check all are intact, regardless of what lights your getting at the front.

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I had this recently - side lights, dim-dip and nothing else.

My problem was the main lighting relay not being seated correctly. I believe however, that this relay was introduced on the 300tdi, so you probably don't have one.

In that case, i'd suspect your dim-dip relay. On later models, this is a pink relay behind the dash. My old 200tdi didn't have one, so I'm not sure where it is/what it looks like on earlier models.

@Ralph, the dim-dip is driven from position 1 (sidelights) of the main light switch, so not necessarily the lighting stalk (never say never with a LR though :lol: )

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Where abouts is the main lighting relay? My 200tdi is one of the last, Its a change over vehicle and shares a lot of the 300tdi parts. Ive checked the pink relay behind the dash and thats working fine.

For all those reading this, There is 2 relays behind the dash, 1 pink, 1 yellow The pink is main/dip beam and the yellow is heated rear window. The Haynes manual call this pink relay a Voltage transformer or voltage regulator.

Im now thinking it may have somthing to do with the ignition side of it! The main/dip beam will only work when the ignition is switched on. So maybe there is a power supply problem. All tho i cant see it being that as the switch has power on all 3 wires.

A little bit more info: The sidelight main/dip beam switch has 3 wires. 1 brown, 1 red, 1 blue The brown is live/power supply The red is sidelights The blue is main/dip beam

AAHHHHH!!!!!! I Hate Electrics

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the pink is the dim dip relay, nothing to do with normal dip & main beam.

yellow relay is a voltage sensitive switch, there to prevent the rear screen heater staying on without engine running/alternator charging.

standard headlight relay should be behind the fusebox metal panel in front of gear levers.

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The main/dip beam will only work when the ignition is switched on.

Err, I may be missing the point here, but it's supposed to do that. If you are getting main and dip beam when the ignition switch is on, but not when it's off then it's working correctly.

Nick.

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Problem solved at last. It was the light relay behind the fuse cover/box. There is 5 relays on my 200tdi 2 large, 3 small. The 2 large relays (Upper left) 1 black, 1 red. Black is wiper delay relay. The red er well i dont know what that is! 3 smaller relays lower right., 2 yellow, 1 green The first yellow is starter, 2ed is Lights. 3ed green not sure. In the Haynes manual the light relay (Small yellow) is called a rear light relay. Ive been ignoring this relay of corse, Because i had a problem with the front lights not the rear. Must invest in a proper Land Rover manual!!!!! Thanks western and Gromit for your help

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry for resurrecting this thread,but I have a similar problem.Sidelights and full beam but no dipped.I got behind the metal fusebox cover and there are two large relays on left,one blue one red.On the other side there are 5 smaller relays(more underneath the fuse array really,not behind).Can't find any blue/white trace wires anywhere,but the first of the five has a red sheath connector,all the rest have black.They're all stamped Lucas and have the same markings on them.Any ideas anyone?

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the other 5 relays according to the workshop manual are

start, brake check & headlamp. & 2 for air conditioning [if fitted]

there might be a 4th which is just there to prevent incorrect fitting [book say this one is a fuel isolation relay for petrol vehicle, but fitted for that reason] it might not be on your vehicle, it 's not fitted to my '89 110.

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Sorry to resurrect again,but yes,same here western,it made no difference whatsoever,although the relay's contacts were slightly burnt.Having viewed a newer post on the matter,I think I'll check the switch as I replaced this a year or so ago and it came out of a blue box!

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Well,having taken off both the binnacle and steering wheel surround,I'm satisfied that there are no loose or corroded connections anywhere,although the brass nut holding the headlamp switch in place was loose.Have swapped about the tin relays under fuseblock all to no avail.Have disconnected dim-dip relay at top inside binnacle and checked wiring in there also.Not quite sure what I've missed now!

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It was the black ribbed plastic box bolted to the dash rail inside the binnacle western.I just unplugged it,but still have no dipped beam.Is there another relay or resistor under the bonnet somewhere?The reason I ask is that when I switch on dipped,I can hear a relay buzzing,but it's not inside the binnacle,perhaps on the other side of bulkhead?The middle tin relay under fuseblock does get quite warm,but I don't know the significance of this!

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no other part in the dim dip system, there is a headlight relay behind the fuse panel and a rear fog light inhibit relay and a rear light relay might be one of those you can hear buzzing, pull the suspect out & see what lights doesn't work.

the voltage sensitive ubit lives in the right corner behind the instrument pack that can cause problems if not correctly seated or it's faulty, big yellow case unit.

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Cheers western, will check in the morning, although I'm sure the yellow unit doesn't have a multiplug in it..I wondered what that was!When I put in some gauges recently, I omitted to fit in-line fuses to their positive feed, would this have anything to do with this?Thanks again

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