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Strange thing happened yesterday morning, the car has not moved since last Thursday and has a cover on it but this morning the postie knocked on the door to say my lights were on. It turned out to be main beam only and the problem was the blue and white terminal had broken at the contact and the wire made contact to a live. Must have been gremlins and it couldn't have happened long before as the battery was still ok?

It looks similar to a landrover defender switch? am I correct.

It's metal fatigue. I can't remember if that connection moves with the action of the switch or not but it must at least vibrate a bit. A touch of solder and it will be OK. I did the one on my car as I could see that it was obviously cracked and about to let go. As you say it must just have happened or your battery would have been flat.

A few years ago I stepped out the front door on my way to work on a Monday morning. About two steps from the car it started to make a hissing and slight whistling sound. A quick look round and a back tyre was rapidly deflating. In seconds it was flat.

I whipped the wheel off and spotted a large self tapping screw in it with the head almost completely worn off, so it had been there for some miles and the car hadn't been driven since Friday night. The gremlins must have been waiting all weekend to make it leak just as I was about to drive it.....

Had a similar thing on a HB. Coming home from the Monsters Of Rock at Donnington, about 3am, M1, kept driving into and out of thick fog banks. Found everytime I put the indicators on the headlights went out! Indicators off, headlights back on. The shroud round the column was very warm. Turned out to be a poor earth on the column switch.

Peter