Head Lamps and sidelights broken now fixed. Ugrade?

[JamesKT25]

Ok so this is my first real post, had my t25 panel van for a week and i am utterly in love. BUT, jumped in it today. Switched lights on and the main beam dash bulb was lit, so turned it man beam off. Dash light stays on. So i jump out. No headlights, no sidelights but i have taillights. If i flash main beam i get the offside headlight but not the left. Have i blown the bulbs somehow? Am i missing something. I am relatively good mechanics wise so don't hesitate to explain. Need to drive this eve so kinda need a quick reply

thank you in advance.

[pionte]

check the fuses... and the earth crowns ( drop the glove box and look for where all the wires earth) could be your switch though, they are known to give up.. Also could be that one of your main beam lamps has blown, as one does work .

Do you have a AVO meter or a 12 v test light , you can pull out the switch and check for a live feed in then out.

[JamesKT25]

Ive got a multi meter i can use to test it. What confuses me is the main beam dash light being on when no actual lights are working...

[AdrianC]

What confuses me is the main beam dash light being on when no actual lights are working...

Suggests switch and/or wiring issues.

[JamesKT25]

Foes anyone have a guide as to what fuse does what? I cant find one through google. Didn't have time to sort it this eve so ended up in the girlfriends polo.

[pionte]

Have you checked out the WIKI at the top left of every page ? great resource for information,

I had a quick look and found this link ... http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robertj.gr ... ations.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also can you ad your van age and engine details into your signature line please, it will greatly help everyone when replying to you, these vans have different fuse boxes dependant on age... mine is a 84 ish build and has the old style torpedo fuses, around 85 I think they switched to blade fuses .

My best guess is the switch itself, they are known to fail, especially if after market more powerful lamps are used... people tend to fit these without fitting relays , this leads to failure of the switch. Also if the headlights are dim, then sorting out the earths and fitting relays will improve things no end, all this info can be found in the Wiki .

When you do sort it can you please take the time to post what you found, it really will help others in the future.

Good luck .

[ajsimmo]

With symptoms like this it's usually earth crown (behind fuse box). Original terminals go brittle and loose on the crown spades, cut off the culprit and put new terminal on. In fact might be worth doing them all while you're there!

[scottbott]

when you read articles about people replacing connectors etc up under the dash etc,how the hell do they manage to solder the connectors I have a gas powered solder gun but cannot get wires to stop moving about when trying to solder them especially if space is tight

[pionte]

when you read articles about people replacing connectors etc up under the dash etc,how the hell do they manage to solder the connectors I have a gas powered solder gun but cannot get wires to stop moving about when trying to solder them especially if space is tight

most people dont do it so professionally scotch lock and tape is the usual method then total surprise when everything goes out or worse still a fire

I try not to add too much electrically , but when I did my leisure battery and split charge system everything was done properly, including adding a new fuse box for every new circuit that was added .

I still have lots of aftermarket crap to sort out that previous owners have " improved " on over the years...

[KINGPRAWN]

One of the earth tags behind the fuse board on the crown !!! Moved/loose/corroded!?!?!

[JamesKT25]

After much investigation and head scratching without a wiring diagram, it was the switch! Thanks for the help, ill update my sig too

[JamesKT25]

After i thought i had fixed it, i now have headlights and side lights when i turn the ignition off with the headlights on. However, i dont get sidelights when i switch them on whilst the engine is running

Ignition On:
No sidelights but get Headlights

Ignition off:
Sidelights work when headlights left on.

[JamesKT25]

I should add, at one point i had passenger sidelight and no drivers, now i have non.

[LeeME3]

With symptoms like this it's usually earth crown (behind fuse box). Original terminals go brittle and loose on the crown spades, cut off the culprit and put new terminal on. In fact might be worth doing them all while you're there!

What he said. In fact my van went to him with pretty much exactly those symptoms not so long ago and a good earth crown clean up (and removal of some previous owner dodgy wiring!) sorted the issue.

[JamesKT25]

There are so many stiff old wires on the crown i darent touch it....