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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Anyone good at diagnosing funny car wiring faults?
The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? Many thanks RickyC |
#2
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A fuse is blown or an earth fault at the back of the car.
"RickyC" wrote in message ... The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? Many thanks RickyC |
#3
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In ,
RickyC wrote: The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? No logic here, but every time I've had a wacky fault like that it's turned out to be a bad earth. Look for a black cable with a rusty terminal. HTH -- Gill usually owns cars old enough to vote |
#4
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In article ,
RickyC wrote: The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? Weird having two tail light fuses. Have you checked the inputs to the fuses? Do other lights on the rear clusters work - this should prove the returns (grounds) Does it have parking lights where the indicator switch selects right or left sidelights with the ignition switched off? -- *Funny, I don't remember being absent minded. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
#5
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On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:20:28 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote: In article , RickyC wrote: The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? Weird having two tail light fuses. Have you checked the inputs to the fuses? No, but will try and check that tomorrow. If I can figure out which side of the two fuses are the input. Do other lights on the rear clusters work - this should prove the returns (grounds) Thanks for your help. Yes, the brake lights (second filament in the same tail light bulbs) work fine. So do the indicators (the only other bulbs back there). Does it have parking lights where the indicator switch selects right or left sidelights with the ignition switched off? I'm not sure. Why do you ask? RickyC |
#6
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RickyC wrote:
No, but will try and check that tomorrow. If I can figure out which side of the two fuses are the input. Pull the fuse out... the side with 12V is the input. If neither side has 12V then that is your problem! (I found the side lights did not work on my car after I bought it, checked the fuse and found no feed to it. In the end found there was supposed to be a small plug in relay on the same panel as the fuse (located above the drivers footwell) which some bright spark had vacuumed off when valeting the car prior to selling it!) -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#7
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#8
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On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:44:15 +0000, Lurch
wrote: On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 22:31:26 GMT, (RickyC) strung together this: The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? More than likely a dodgy earth. Best bet is get a meter out and see where the pos\neg go\don't go. No need for guessing then. I'm not too savvy on electronics, but I'm thinking that I'd need an ohm meter with very long wires, so I can clip one on the battery and prod the other end at various points between it and the tail lights, yes? RickyC |
#10
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In article , "The Natural
Philosopher" says... RickyC wrote: On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 23:44:15 +0000, Lurch wrote: On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 22:31:26 GMT, (RickyC) strung together this: The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. The tail light bulbs are perfectly OK (all filaments light up when fed with 12 volts). I also checked the two tail light fuses. Neither of them is blown. So the fault must be somewhere else. Anyone suggest where it might logically be? More than likely a dodgy earth. Best bet is get a meter out and see where the pos\neg go\don't go. No need for guessing then. I'm not too savvy on electronics, but I'm thinking that I'd need an ohm meter with very long wires, so I can clip one on the battery and prod the other end at various points between it and the tail lights, yes? Voltmeter, and sharp pin to pierce insulation. Cahiis is always 0v - lights should be at +12v. chassis :-) |
#11
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On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 00:59:28 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote: Voltmeter, and sharp pin to pierce insulation. Cahiis is always 0v - lights should be at +12v. I like the pin tip - thanks. MAY be a relay in there or somne weiord switch - do the bulbs come on with sidelights/parking lights? No switches that I am aware of have any effect on the tail lights. The tail lights (and them alone) do not come on whatever I do. The brake lights (which are another filament in the same bulb) work fine. PS Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'll go through the wiring this weekend until I locate the fault. RickyC |
#12
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RickyC wrote:
I'm not too savvy on electronics, but I'm thinking that I'd need an ohm meter with very long wires, so I can clip one on the battery and prod the other end at various points between it and the tail lights, yes? If you are going to do it on an ohms range then make sure you disconnect the live from the battery... otherwise the first one you prod will probably cost you a new meter! A volts range will tell you which bits are live, so if you find you can trace 12V as far as the bulb then you know it must be the earth. -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
#13
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RickyC wrote: Lurch wrote: (RickyC)strung together: The other day I bought a 1997 Nissan Primera. The battery was dead when I bought it. Today, I replaced the battery. Now everything works fine acxept for the tail lights which don't come on when the headlight switch is turned on. Anyone suggest where [the fault] might logically be? I'm not too savvy on electronics Hmm, if you're not too savvy, once you've checked the fuse, the bulb and for any obvious dodgy connections, might be easier to send to an auto electrician. I'm and electrical and electronics engineer by trade, and I threw the towel in on an intermittent fault to earth, blowing the tail light fuse on my Frontera. The electrician had to strip out half the dashboard to narrow down the fault, which turned out to be where insulation had chafed off over a bulkhead. So saved me a days scrabbling about underneath the car dashboard skinning my knuckles and trapping my fingers. I think it was about =A370, but well worth it :-) Rgds Paul. |
#14
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#15
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"Andy Dingley" wrote
Two fuses ? Both circuits failed ? Start looking at the common factor; the switch. I recently had one tail light out (on an old Merc 230E) and it was the headlamp switch at fault. |
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