bigbeast Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 when it comes to electrics im not really clued up so i need your help guys my symptoms are - with the lights off. the side lights RH and LH will ilumuniate when the brake pedal is pressed. with the lights on (sidelights or main) the brake lights are fully lit and flicker without the pedal pressed and last night the engine continued to run when the key was removed. first time this has happend, rest of the problems have been happening for around 5days ive done a search and it seems an earth fault would be the likely cause?..my question is..what would be the logical steps to go about solving the problem? how would you do it? thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandyManLuke Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Definitely an earth fault, or multiple earth faults! First place to start is the rear side/brake lights. Clean the earths up there, or run a test earth back to a known good earth and take it from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharpy Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Hiya My truck used to over run after it was turned off and the key in my pocket, it turned out to be the barrel assembly had worn badly and started to fall apart, new barrel and 2 new keys sorted it out. As for your lights could that just be a coincidence? and they need dealing with separately? Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophers1247 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 classic symptoms of an earth fault unfortunatly they can be hard to track down as there are several earth points on any vehicle its up to you where you start i personally would start at the battery clean up the negitive connection on the battery and the chassis this can solve lots of earth faults straight away after that its just your luck but look at the easy access places first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW70 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 with the lights off. the side lights RH and LH will ilumuniate when the brake pedal is pressed. with the lights on (sidelights or main) the brake lights are fully lit and flicker without the pedal pressed In addition to checking the earths, it may be worth having a squint at the contacts in the rear lights - the two contacts in one or both of the lamp holders may be shorted out... have you changed a bulb recently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastycrimper Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I had this and it was something completely different! It was one of my rear sidelight/brake bulbs - The ones with two filaments in....I had a strand of the brakelight filament that fell onto the sidelight such that whenever the brake pedal was pressed my sidelights (and dim/dip headlights) would flash on and off. This freaked the hell out of people in front of me when approaching roundabouts/junctions as they'd see a Landy in their rear view mirroe with his lights flashing them! Almost certain it will be this! I checked all earths, went crazy for ages and it turned out to be a strange bulb. Hope this solves your issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbeast Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 I had this and it was something completely different! It was one of my rear sidelight/brake bulbs - The ones with two filaments in....I had a strand of the brakelight filament that fell onto the sidelight such that whenever the brake pedal was pressed my sidelights (and dim/dip headlights) would flash on and off. This freaked the hell out of people in front of me when approaching roundabouts/junctions as they'd see a Landy in their rear view mirroe with his lights flashing them! Almost certain it will be this! I checked all earths, went crazy for ages and it turned out to be a strange bulb. Hope this solves your issue i have taken out both bulbs, and the light symbol on the dash still illumites when the brake is pressed, so ive ruled out dodgy bulbs In addition to checking the earths, it may be worth having a squint at the contacts in the rear lights - the two contacts in one or both of the lamp holders may be shorted out... have you changed a bulb recently? i have indeed changed a bulb recently, will unpluging the lamp holders one at a time reveal if thats the cause..thinking about it, this started to happen when i changed the bulb!! Definitely an earth fault, or multiple earth faults! First place to start is the rear side/brake lights. Clean the earths up there, or run a test earth back to a known good earth and take it from there. how exactly would i do this? do they have there own earth strap behind the panel? i am total idiot when looking at a bunch of wires thanks chaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 rear lights have or should have a earth wire behind the rear corner covers, bolted to the rear wheel arch horizontal face near the outer panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisW70 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 i have indeed changed a bulb recently, will unpluging the lamp holders one at a time reveal if thats the cause..thinking about it, this started to happen when i changed the bulb!! Should do unless youve squashed the contacts so they are touching each other. Happened to me a while ago on the disco, I'd converted the bumper lights to stop and tail and was upgrading the bulbs to led to stop them melting the lens and managed to twist the prongs in the holder so the sidelight contact on the bulb was across the brake and sidelight contact, very similar symptoms... gave up in the end and bought new holders as the water ingress wasnt making life any easier trying to sort it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbeast Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 will crack on at weekend, i dont get much time after work to fiddle..will remove the rear corner covers and check the earths, and lampholders for any abnormalities..im sure this is where the problem must be, as it defo started happening when i changed the bulb..thanks for the advice again lads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 which bulb ? & is it fitted corectly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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