Thread: Electrical problem

RAVE CD for the Defender covers up to 2003 and has the wiring diagrams.

Originally Posted by dm_td5

RAVE CD for the Defender covers up to 2003 and has the wiring diagrams.

Thanks, I'll track it down

This is a failure of the lighting switch itself. it is a common fault and has been spoken about loads of times on hear before.

Quick emergency fix. cut and twist the three wires together on the back of the switch.
or wire a 40 amp relay in position in stead of the switch and wire a switch to turn this on,
or buy a headlamp upgrade kit that bypasses the switch thus not burning it out (new switch needed),
Or buy a new switch (and a spare for when it blows again).

Originally Posted by foz.in.oz

This is a failure of the lighting switch itself. it is a common fault and has been spoken about loads of times on hear before.

Quick emergency fix. cut and twist the three wires together on the back of the switch.
or wire a 40 amp relay in position in stead of the switch and wire a switch to turn this on,
or buy a headlamp upgrade kit that bypasses the switch thus not burning it out (new switch needed),
Or buy a new switch (and a spare for when it blows again).

Thanks for this info; I actually narrowed it down to the switch when I first checked though everything this morning, but then didn't have enough faith in my reasoning to carry though; I thought the switch should have show some signs of getting dirty contacts or something before actually failing.

Also, up to now I have not worked on the 90, it has a full service history(!) and I stick to rebuilding older Series Landies! However, since Land rover no longer import the SWB I guess I won't be trading her in for the latest model... I'd better get my reference tools and knowledge base up to speed!

Thaks again

TeZZa

NB I did do a search on here for electrical problems but obviously didn't put the correct terms in...

When my failed it showed very little sign of there being a problem. The multimeter said otherwise. The lttle rivets that hold the contact strips to the switch body were loose though and I can only guess that oxidation had caused a break to exist. Thought I would have a go at soldering them to re-enable the conductivity but I couldn't even get the solder to wet to them.

I went for the 40amp relay route. $6 for a relay and about $6 for a switch. Wired both side lights and main lights together. All the lights come on together now rather than the side lights on their own and then mains.

Originally Posted by foz.in.oz

When my failed it showed very little sign of there being a problem. The multimeter said otherwise. The lttle rivets that hold the contact strips to the switch body were loose though and I can only guess that oxidation had caused a break to exist. Thought I would have a go at soldering them to re-enable the conductivity but I couldn't even get the solder to wet to them.

I went for the 40amp relay route. $6 for a relay and about $6 for a switch. Wired both side lights and main lights together. All the lights come on together now rather than the side lights on their own and then mains.

Thanks for the info, the relay/switch sounds like a good option, did you just pop the switch into one of the blanks (I assume it was a rocker style switch to match the existing ones?)?

I removed the original column mounted light switch and fitted an on/off toggle type switch in its place. Cut the wires off the old switch as close to it as possible. Connected the live to the old switch to the switched contact of the relay and to the new switch. Took the thin wire from the switch and the remaining large wire (not the live) and connected them to the other side of the switch relay contact. Connected the second wire from the new switch to the relay coil and then an earth wire from the other side of the relay coil to the chassis to ground.

see attached pic

Have a look here for Drivesafe's headlight wiring upgrade kit -
Dave's Interesting Things

It includes everything you need to upgrade wire thickness and install relays. Your headlight switch won't wear out, your lights will be brighter, you can install brighter globes without worries, etc. and you're helping AULRO at the same time.

Replacement headlight switches come in OE - Lucas, or other manufacturer, which is significantly cheaper. When the choice is between Lucas and anyone else, some people might think that not-Lucas is a fine idea.

When my headlight switch melted I put in relays and stuff, and was able to fix the switch with solder and butchery. In my case the contacts had melted into the plastic housing, so not too hard to fix, and I'm counting on the relays in the future.

Cheers
Simon