defender earth issue

[460cixy]

when the lights are turned on the temp gauge goes throu the roof. and with the lights on when you aply the park brake or release it the radio cuts out for a second and the temp gauge moves. i can only put it down to bad earth somewhere trying to use the temp and park brake as an earth. untill my rave cd arives where abouts are the earths for the headlights ect and earths from the body to the chassie?

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Voltage regulator in the instrument panel??

[camel_landy]

I had something similar on mine...

To fix it, I just ran an earth strap from the -ve on the battery to one of the starter motor bolts. It fixed no end of problems... :)

HTH

M

[JDNSW]

when the lights are turned on the temp gauge goes throu the roof. and with the lights on when you aply the park brake or release it the radio cuts out for a second and the temp gauge moves. i can only put it down to bad earth somewhere trying to use the temp and park brake as an earth. untill my rave cd arives where abouts are the earths for the headlights ect and earths from the body to the chassie?

The problem will be the earth to the instrument panel, when I had a similar problem with the 110 it was that the nut holding one of the gauges, which had the earth tags under it, was loose. But your problem sounds more like it is the overall instrument cluster earth that is the problem. This is probably onto a bolt somewhere on the bulkhead behind the instrument cluster, and it will be either loose or rusty.

John

[weeds]

i had the same problems with my temp gauge, after checking all the earths i eneded up fitting a mechanical temp gauge

[460cixy]

well i had a look today and found the left hand head light plug melted to **** i removed that and it seems to have gone away but now the right hand head light and dash lights flicker from time to time. the earth lead from the batt goes straight on to the transfer. im going to ad an earth from the transfer or starter bolt to the chassie or make a longer lead and go straight from the batt to the starter.

[EchiDna]

in car audio there is this thing called "upgrading the big 3"...

this is the process of adding new earth straps or increasing the current capacity of the existing strap between:
1 - battery earth to chassis
2 - engine block on/near alternator to chassis
3 - battery positive to alternator positive (some people use a fuse in this one as a failsafe)

if you are feeling rich or have plenty of heavy gauge copper around, items 1 & 2 can even join at a common earth point on the chassis...

works wonders to fix earth problems due to poor connection or inadequate capacity from adding in more and more accessories!

[justinc]

This is common enough for us to fit an extra body earth from the battery under the passenger seat to the bottom threads of an extended length seat bolt, this earth problem can cause temp guage and headlamp flickers.

I would recommend an upgrade from Traxide for the headlamps, as the relays and upgraded earths solve all the defender lamp issues, including melted plugs. Tim is currently working on another version of the defender headlamp upgrade I believe, all will be revealed soon I guess.

JC

[460cixy]

yeah im seriously thinking i will get a traxside kit next pay. now is there an easy way of geting to the back of the head light? how hard is it to pull the light out throu the front to give better acess to the wireing?

[justinc]

yeah im seriously thinking i will get a traxside kit next pay. now is there an easy way of geting to the back of the head light? how hard is it to pull the light out throu the front to give better acess to the wireing?

Really the only way to change globes easily in the defender is to remove the lamp itself from the front, as the clip holding in the globe is not captive:mad: and will fall out of its retaining slot in the lamp body as soon as it is unclipped, and wont be fitted again easily from behind.
You just have to unscrew the plastic surround and indicator and sidelamps, then the 4 self tapping screws holding the lamp into the guard. Easy peasy.

This is only a problem with the Wipac lamps, my Cibie H4 inserts have a retained clip and you can fit globes into them in the dark without fear of dropping the retaining clip:):)

When you fit the traxide kit, upgrade to 140/100Watt globes or similar, you will wonder why it took you so long to do it!
JC

[camel_landy]

the earth lead from the batt goes straight on to the transfer. im going to ad an earth from the transfer or starter bolt to the chassie or make a longer lead and go straight from the batt to the starter.

Very common... Problem with that is that all electrical continuity for the engine is through the gearbox casing, bell housing & then block. Add a bit of grease, grime & corrosion and you end up with the current having to find a different route.

M

[sclarke]

As Mark Said..........

I had the same problem...

the Earth from the battery goes to the Gearbox and it gets crappy...
I ran a big muther from the battery to the Starter. then i solved 2 problems........

the gauge issue and the starter chattering....

Its a cheap fix, id do that 1st....

[460cixy]

it now has an earth fom the chassie to the starter bolt and one from the batt to the body. i realy should run an earth from the starter to the batt but thats another day. will see if this cures the problem it however it would only happen randomly so only time will tell. but found lots of lose **** like lose prop shaft bolts ect while crawling around under it a little less clunky now :rolleyes: