front mounted spotlights

[kevinr]

When I got my disco, there were two spots fitted to the front bars, they are wired together, but the wiring has been cut in the engine bay and coiled up and stowed.

Also, in the dash where a headlight levelling switch would be is a gaping hole, I assume this was where a switch for the light could have been placed.

Well, my question is, how do I wire these back in? I have a new relay, as I heard that it should be wired through one, and I have a switch.

The only place to fit a relay in the fuse box has one in already..but I can't ID what it is for, and I can't see where the wire entered the passenger compartment, though I can take a guess on that one.

I'd rather do this job myself, then get an auto electrician to do it, as I am basically to tight to pay for one

So any suggestions an wiring diagrams you can chuck my way would be very much appreciated.

[wizard]

Here are some wiring diagramms.

Regards

wizard

[signia]

You won't need a seperate switch if you want them to come on with main beam. I did mine a while back, so apologies if my memory is a bit sketchy...

You need a special clip (can't remember what it is) which clasps a wire against the main beam wire under the steering column. If I recall the main beam wire is white with a blue tracer (or the other way around - I got it wrong first and connected it to the horn!)

The wire you used on the clasp goes to the relay.

Another wire (with the fuse) comes from the battery to the relay.

Then take a wire out from the relay to the lights in series and out from the second light to earth.

I think you earth the relay too on from the final relay point. Can't remember the numbers though - I did it by trial and error.

I mounted the relay in the engine bay, taped it all up and covered it with grease and never caused any problem.

[Pete Attryde]

The "special" clip was probably a scotch lock (usually blue and crimped with a pair of pliers) these things are IHMO the worst invention ever as they can lead to all sorts of wiring issues including fires. I would suggest not using them, ever. It is far safer and more reliable to either use a decent splice crimp or (my prefered method) to solder and then insulate with either insulation tape or heat shrink sleeve.

HTH

Pete.

P.S. I used to wire vehicles (Fire engines, Cars, Helicopters and Airliners) for a living so do have some relevant experience.

[signia]

these things are IHMO the worst invention ever as they can lead to all sorts of wiring issues including fires. I would suggest not using them, ever.

I know what you mean, if you just follow their instructions it would be easy to get it wrong.

It took several attempts to make sure the wires were connecting properly. I ended up cutting the plastic away from the wire myself where I needed the clip to go. Once I'd done that, I could get it to clip properly and made a decent connection. then I put insulating tape all over the thing.

Admittedly, not a the clever thing it's supposed to be, but it worked for me eventually.

I did have one supplied with an old set of lights, years back, but that never clipped in place properly so I didn't use it.

[Rodewaryer]

If I wasn't literally on the eve of a week long off roading adventure I'd get you a wiring diagram. I have some experience in these matters. Can it wait or have you already solved the issue? I would advise wiring them through a switch, use the relay and if long range lamps, use the high/main circuit as the switch power, works wonderfully when you need to dip in a hurry.

[thebiglad]

If I wasn't literally on the eve of a week long off roading adventure I'd get you a wiring diagram. I have some experience in these matters. Can it wait or have you already solved the issue? I would advise wiring them through a switch, use the relay and if long range lamps, use the high/main circuit as the switch power, works wonderfully when you need to dip in a hurry.

Hi there, I've got a '98 Disco Tdi 300 auto and would like to install driving lamps on my vehicle, so that they operate with the main beam circuit.

Any help, advice or support you can give me would be gratefully recieved. BTW, I'm in no rush, go and have a good time !!!

[Ivan]

To wire in the spotlights off the main beam, proceed as follows:

1. Take a wire from the feed to the main beam (via a switch if you want) to pin 86 on the relay. This doesn't have to be a big wire as it's only switching the relay.

2. Pin 85 on the relay to Earth.

3. Take a feed from the battery (via a fuse) to pin 30 on the relay.

4. From pin 87 on the relay take a wire to the spotlights.

The wattage of the spotlights will depend on the size of fuse and wire you need. If you are running a pair of 100W spotlights then you need to divide 100 (wattage)/12 (voltage) to give the Amp rating. So 100/12 is about 8.5 so 10Amp wire (to each spotlight or 20A to the pair) and protect the feed from the battery by a 20A fuse (wire should be rated at 20A+). If wattage is higher then just perform the calculations and uprate evrything accordingly. Relay should be rated at 30A which will supply about 300W of lighting.

A quick google on Relay Wiring Diagrams gives you this

HTH

Ivan

[kevinr]

hi,

sorry for my late response, work and stuff getting in the way

Thanks for all the replies, as yet I haven't done anything yet due to wok commitments, but I'm off tomorrow, and weather permitting I'll be having a good session on the landrover, got all sorts to do, new brakes, rear discs, spots and a repair on the exhaust, so all in all, a good day tomorrow

Edit:

Please excuse my 'technical' wording, but I have found something I would like some advice on.

I was just having a look in the fuse box under the steering wheel to see where i could route some of the wring, and to see if there was any remnants from the old wiring, and I found what i thought could be what I was looking for.

There is a large yellow wire that runs from the back end of the ignition housing (or that area at least) and connects to the front of the fuse box with a four pin connector block. From this has been spliced a black wire, which goes into a a 30A fuse (before the fuse box itself), and from there into the engine bay.

I traced the wire to the front passenger side and it connects onto a large cylindrical object ( i don't know what this is..sorry). This in turn has several wires connecting to it, but the centre of it has a HT lead which connects to the distributor cap.

So, could this be something I need to use or what, because it doesn't go to anything but this yellow wire, 30A fuse and this cylinder, and it deffinatly looks like an 'aftermarket' modification.

[Rodewaryer]

Could you describe the cylindrical object in a little more detail?

BTW, Are you ok with the wiring tips already supplied? Looks like someone beat me to it.

FYI, I tapped power for the 'big' lamps off the mainbeams, and have mounted the relays (3 of them) either on the right side of the engine bay 1 on the bulkhead, the other 2 are inside the right wing. Having said that mine is left hand drive so this may not be of much help, but there were already points I could bolt into and didn't have much worry about finding locations for 3 additional relays. You should have little trouble mounting just one.

Let us know how your day off/sorting day went.

The off road trip went well, I posted some pics in the "Getting Out and About" section.

[Comical Engineer]

Roadwaryer - Love the Saab 900. Looks great have you still got it?

I used to have a 9-5 3.0tid but always wanted a 900 turbo.

[Rodewaryer]

Roadwaryer - Love the Saab 900. Looks great have you still got it?

I used to have a 9-5 3.0tid but always wanted a 900 turbo.

Sadly I no longer have the SPG, or Aero as it's called everywhere else in the world. It was my second one too, I had a black/black '85 intro unit and the red '89 (I know, they didn't do red in '89, it was a brochure car). I tweaked it and tweaked it until I tweaked myself out of anyone that could work on it. So when a good offer came along it went to a guy that collects Aero's. After GM bought SAAB, I lost interest and heard that a lot of their character has been lost in the subsequent cars. Thanks for the comments though, that was a good car.

[kevinr]

Could you describe the cylindrical object in a little more detail?

BTW, Are you ok with the wiring tips already supplied? Looks like someone beat me to it.

FYI, I tapped power for the 'big' lamps off the mainbeams, and have mounted the relays (3 of them) either on the right side of the engine bay 1 on the bulkhead, the other 2 are inside the right wing. Having said that mine is left hand drive so this may not be of much help, but there were already points I could bolt into and didn't have much worry about finding locations for 3 additional relays. You should have little trouble mounting just one.

Let us know how your day off/sorting day went.

The off road trip went well, I posted some pics in the "Getting Out and About" section.

I've looked at the diagrams, but done nothing yet..I was concerned about this wire.

The day working on the landrover went surprisingly well, I found it a hell of alot easier to work on then my fiat tipo and vauxhall cavalier, the discs were a breeze and took me a little under 2 hours to do both. The exhaust s still giving me a problem, the middle piece and downpipe have a welded olive thatwont locate correctly, so it blows a little (any suggestions on any kits I could get to help seal this?)

After checking the haynes manual..the cylinder object is the ignition coil ..do I feel stupid now..lol

But that still begs the question..why is it wired to a heavy guage wire via a 30A fuse. The aforementioned wire then disappears behind the ignition barrel in the stering column.