my cars electric problems

[fezworth]

ok well heres the list

we are are having a problem with the drivers side headlight it either blows bulbs or simply dont work ive blown 5 bulbs now and te one i have in atm works on high beam and dont on dipped

the hazard switch when pulled lights hazards but shuts everything else down checked earth and aint that been cleaned up on all indicators and still same

any ideas im even thinking of ripping out wires and starting again

[hbpeter]

Sounds like a short on the dipped beam circuit. The hazards sounds like a dodgy switch or a bad earth somewhere, but I'm no electrical genius!

Peter

[vivaha]

Hi, Check if the bulbs are actually blown, if they are it can only be caused by overvoltage, check voltage across battery, should be no more than 14.4V on fast idle. another cause is vibration, make sure that the headlight is secure and not rattling about. The only other possibility is cheap or second hand bulbs. Bad earths, wiring shorts etc cannot cause bulbs to blow. If you only have one dip beam light out, the fault must be local to that lamp eg. bulb, plug or wires behind wing.

When you pull the hazard switch out it automatically cuts out the directionals, when the lights stay on the first thing to do is take a good look at the lights to see if they are all the same brightness. a dim one will suggest a bad earth, bad feed or wrong wattage bulb fitted. Front and back bulbs should be 21Watt and side repeaters should be 5Watt if fitted. If all lights are good then the flasher unit must be faulty. Best plan is to uprate to a modern electronic one, just needs a simple wiring mod.

Hope this is helpful Tim

[fistfullofV5's]

Wiring looms don't last forever,the copper degrades and eventually breaks down giving rise to all manner of electrical gremlins. Your Viva is old enough to experience this. This kind of thing happens often on classic Minis and I doubt that elderly Vauxhall wiring is any more robust than British Leyland's. If you have an electrical tester,you could try doing continuity and resistance checks on the loom. Often though the quickest way is to chop out the affected section of loom and replace it with new cable. Best of luck.
Dave.

[MattyE]

I second V5's comments above, old wiring can lead to nightmares!

I had my lights cut out on a country lane at night on more than one occasion.. bad times! melted switches, blown fuses etc...

i stripped the wiring for the lights back to the fuse box and ran two relays (one for dip and one for main) with live feed straight off the battery, taking the current out of the switchgear stopped stuff melting and as a double bonus it made the lights so much brighter!