Head light problems, any ideas?

[Goober]

Hi, after a drive earlier today (in the rain) i got home and did the usual, turned the cd player off, turned the lights off and turned the ignition off. i got out of the door and noticed my side lights were still on. i opened the door again thinkin i had forgot to switch them off. they were switched off! Im not sure what is causing the lights to stay on? i have taken the cable off the battery for now so it wont flatten the battery. could this be something to do the the altinator or a loose wire?

Its a 1987 defender 90 300tdi.

Also my oil light has been on and flickering. there is oil in, so could this be a wiring problem, such as the wire is touching some metal somewhere on the chassis?

Thanks

[western]

most likely a duff light switch. check the oil light wiring cat the sender/engine it maybe shorting & causing the light to flicker, or a new sender shoulf fix it, idle revs should be 750 to 800rpm if to low that will cause the oil light to flicker.

[mmgemini]

I'll second all that.

mike

Try was Lord Mayor of London. Can't died in the workhouse.m

[Goober]

most likely a duff light switch. check the oil light wiring cat the sender/engine it maybe shorting & causing the light to flicker, or a new sender shoulf fix it, idle revs should be 750 to 800rpm if to low that will cause the oil light to flicker.

Thanks for the fast reply, how can i get the head lights to turn off, and work as usual?

[mmgemini]

Thanks for the fast reply, how can i get the head lights to turn off, and work as usual?

Fit a new switch.

mike

Try was Lord Mayor of London. Can't died in the workhouse.

[western]

as Mike said, a new switch is the only way. should be some on ebay or LR part number is prc3430 uptp chassis VA104805 or amr6104 from chassis VA104806 onwards

[Godlykepower]

Yup, fit a new switch, they are not that dear. I had switch problems of my own last month, and tried fixing & bodging it.....it works for an hour and then goes again....just get the new unit and save the hassle.

[Mo Murphy]

Take the earth terminal off the battery for tonight or your battery will go flat.

mo

[Goober]

thanks for the help, i found a new one on ebay for £16 so going to get that! it seems simple enough to fit. I have a quick question about when people drive through really deep water. does all the water come inside or do they sometimes get sealed up really well? I saw a defender yesterday with mud all over the roof, so it must have been deep! Cheers

[Godlykepower]

thanks for the help, i found a new one on ebay for £16 so going to get that! it seems simple enough to fit. I have a quick question about when people drive through really deep water. does all the water come inside or do they sometimes get sealed up really well? I saw a defender yesterday with mud all over the roof, so it must have been deep! Cheers

Does all the water come inside??!! Oh Yes!! A Defender is the only vehicle I have ever owned where you can see the road going past.....through the gaps & holes in the body!!!

Mud on the roof does not necessarily mean that the water was THAT deep.......If you go through a mere puddle fast enough.....it can spray up all over the place. I was driving through puddles only a couple of foot deep, but it ended up all over my roof. And sides. And back. And dashboard. And just about everywhere!!

[Goober]

Hey guys my new switch came today. I unplugged the old head light switch and pluged the new one in but the lights are still on . Any ideas on why its still on? and also when i switch the headlights on from the switch my light doesnt come up on the dash board to say i have my lights on.

oh and my new switch only cost £17, the newer models are about £37 so wasnt that expensive.

[Scotian]

I had this problem a while back after I was driving though deep water. I never found the problem and after a couple of weeks it stopped happening. The side lights were only on very dim though. not full brightness. They came on full when the lights were switched on and I never noticed if the light on the dash was working becuase the bulb was gone and I didnt change it for about a year :-S

[Goober]

hi yes it was a rainy day (very wet) when it happened. So did u just take the cabel off of the battery until it mended itself ?

I had this problem a while back after I was driving though deep water. I never found the problem and after a couple of weeks it stopped happening. The side lights were only on very dim though. not full brightness. They came on full when the lights were switched on and I never noticed if the light on the dash was working becuase the bulb was gone and I didnt change it for about a year :-S

[Ivan]

Check your Dim/Dip unit. It's behind the instruments in the dash. I had the same problem, disconnected the dim/dip unit and it all worked fine. Hopefully someone will be along shortly with a diagram of what it looks like.

HTH

Ivan

[western]

it's a black box about 3 x 2 x1 inch with a ribbed bottom orange or white socket on left hand end, just pull the plug out & tuck it in a safe place, normall roadlights should work as normal.

[Goober]

haha i had a look for this box for 5min and didnt understand what i was looking for! But had another go today and unsrewed the dash bit where the dials are and just started unpluging things. The white box you said did the job sure enough haha, i didnt understand how it would go back to normal while this white box is stil unplugged. I dont really care now as the problem is sorted. Thanks for the help guys! Il add some pictures on the weekend to help anyone else with the problem.

it's a black box about 3 x 2 x1 inch with a ribbed bottom orange or white socket on left hand end, just pull the plug out & tuck it in a safe place, normall roadlights should work as normal.

[western]

thats strange, it's usually the headlights that stay on when the dimdip unit dies.

[Goober]

There was nothing wrong with the switch, I bought another one but didnt need it. I unplugged the white socket from near the relay and the lights went off. And then work normally with the light switch instead of constantly being on.

thats strange, it's usually the headlights that stay on when the dimdip unit dies.

[Aggieturbo]

I was driving through puddles only a couple of foot deep, but it ended up all over my roof. And sides. And back. And dashboard. And just about everywhere!!

only a couple frrt deep!! when does a puddle become a pond? I'm new to this off roading business and dont really know what depth of water i can go through without too much risk of damage?

[Gromit]

I'm new to this off roading business and dont really know what depth of water i can go through without too much risk of damage?

Without a snorkel, you can only wade to a depth lower than the air intake on the wing. Go over this and the engine will suck and try to compress water, rather than air, with obvious results

The maximum recommended wading height for a standard defender is to the top of the wheel rims. This assumes you are driving through it slowing, creating a bow wave in front of the truck; not hammering through it at 50mph

[Steve Warman]

thats strange, it's usually the headlights that stay on when the dimdip unit dies.

So if the lights work with this plug unplugged but the headlights stay on with it plugged, as I found out on mine, does that mean that the dim/dip switch is broken and needs replacing? It works normally unplugged so what does the dim/dip do?

Thanks

[western]

So if the lights work with this plug unplugged but the headlights stay on with it plugged, as I found out on mine, does that mean that the dim/dip switch is broken and needs replacing? It works normally unplugged so what does the dim/dip do?

Thanks

leave it unplugged & secure the plug out of harms way, full normal roadlighting will work but without the dim dip headlights. the dim dip unit, reduces the voltage/current to the headlight dip beam so it runs the bulbs at about 10 to 15% brightness, the object was to prevent vehicles being driven in built up areas on the side/parking lights only, with dim dip lights on it was meant to make the vehicle more visible. & it would only work with the engine running as the little black box has a feed from the oil pressure switch to energise the dim dip ciruit.

[Steve Warman]

leave it unplugged & secure the plug out of harms way, full normal roadlighting will work but without the dim dip headlights. the dim dip unit, reduces the voltage/current to the headlight dip beam so it runs the bulbs at about 10 to 15% brightness, the object was to prevent vehicles being driven in built up areas on the side/parking lights only, with dim dip lights on it was meant to make the vehicle more visible. & it would only work with the engine running as the little black box has a feed from the oil pressure switch to energise the dim dip ciruit.

Cheers Ralph.

[Bull Bar Cowboy]

The lights staying on is definitely a fault with the dim dip ………….. I am fairly sure its caused by a collector to emitter short in one the output pair of transistors ………… given time, I will pull mine apart and post up a fix…………..mainly because I cant be arsed to pay another £45 to replace it……………

There are two types ………….. one for the older sealed beam headlights and another for the halogen headlights ………the early version is £80ish (white socket ?)………. the later version is £45 ish (brown socket ?)

IIRC..........dimmed headlights (when sidelights only are on) is a legal requirement for vehicles after a certain age ............ mine does not have this requirement as it has a later bulkhead and I wired in the unit because it was there ! .................. you guys will need to read the lighting regs and the C&U regs.

Ian

[western]

mine is the Halogen brown socket version, a repair scheme would be great as IIRC there's 3 or 4 kicking around in the garage/house.

I like to keep the dim dip working, but IIRC the requirement was quietly dropped a few years ago as it only applied to vehicles sold in the UK & not the rest of Europe.