Interior light switch

[Stimpy]

Do you know what? I've called the electrician in! After hours of trying and burnt fingers (I'm not going to rush back and forth 'disconnecting the earth lead' - seeing if a light comes on etc etc).
My puddle light works but God knows why! When I tried something I made the interior light work and the puddle light stop working!

ENOUGH! There is so much a man can take.

By the way - I've spent over 6 months trying to create a 'little green light on when in drive' - loads of different ideas that look brilliant on paper but never worked. Gave up on that too. What a bloomin' waste of time. I guess if it was really easy Triumph would have invented it.

[Stimpy]

Do you know what? I've called the electrician in! After hours of trying and burnt fingers (I'm not going to rush back and forth 'disconnecting the earth lead' - seeing if a light comes on etc etc).
My puddle light works but God knows why! When I tried something I made the interior light work and the puddle light stop working!

ENOUGH! There is so much a man can take.

By the way - I've spent over 6 months trying to create a 'little green light on when in drive' - loads of different ideas that look brilliant on paper but never worked. Gave up on that too. What a bloomin' waste of time. I guess if it was really easy Triumph would have invented it.

Ok - so the Electrician let me down by not turning up. Apparently, when I booked him - he said "If I can make it". 1)I can't remember him saying that and 2)I waited..... and waited.... etc.

Bugger this, I thought, lets have another go.
So -
I have got the door to 'go live' in the drivers T-bar. Hooray.
I played endlessly with the console switch. I could only get a glimmer out of one of the T-bar wires so I hit another....
Bugger this.
So - influenced by this very thread - I'm going to wire up the switch so it switches a new wire on in the T.
6 - connections on a switch. Which turns a light on. Hmmmm.

So, If I can 'bespoke' that then I still have a switch (it really doesn't matter how it does it - just turn the bleedin' light on. And off.

I'll attack the passenger side when.... I can be bothered.

[Mike Stevens]

When I came to wire up mine last summer I used the wiring diagram as a reference. (I have an early Mk2) I found that all the wire colours are on on the diagram as well as the switches and their connections are numbered which correlated with the numbers on the wiring diagram.

Then I found that the lights (and there are TWO in the 'T' bar) were a bit erratic. That was down to dirty contacts in the console switch. That can be taken apart - carefully or the bits fly everywhere - and cleaned. That sorted it and the lights now work fine.

As I said, there are 2 festoon bulbs in the interior light. One comes on with the driver's door, and the other with the passenger's door. They both come on with the console switch!

So, I believe if you follow the wiring diagram, carefully putting the right coloured wires onto the right numbered switch pins, you should be getting nearer solving the problem!

Just my 2p worth!

Cheers,
Mike.

[jleyton]

Hi Mike,

Yep, you're right - numerous problems are due to dirty contacts in the interior light switch. However, at a guess, I reckon you may have the twin contact door light switches ? As there is no official wiring diagram for the latest vehicles, it is impossible to wire as per the ROM. I have posted many times about this and the following, from page 209 of the technical reprints, confirms this.
This has lead to much confusion, many times. However I, finally, have got my head round how this latest type of wiring for the lights works
Cheers

Julian

It would appear that the Interior Light wiring was altered at Body number T34827. Page 05-56 in the 1978 edition of the Parts Catalogue shows that the Main Harness changed at that Body number for all variants of Stag.
Note this is the Body number and not Commission number. It would probably be impossible to give a precise Commission number for the change as Body and Commission numbers do not necessarily go in sequence.
Mike's Stag is Body number T39738 and Commission number LD42666-O. Alwyn John (01874) wrote in Issue no 75 (June 1986) that his Stag had the later wiring, and that It was Commission number LD34927A. He didn't give the Body number.
Unfortunately neither the Triumph Repair Operations Manual nor the Haynes Owners Workshop Manual shows the later wiring diagram, and this has confused at least one owner.
Furthermore, the 1978 Parts Catalogue only shows the later door switch (part no. YKC931 or YKC940

[Stimpy]

... so an update to my 'story' !

I worked out the way it - sort of - "offers" earth to a constantly live wire.
So - taking on that idea....

I got the door to operate the light which was good.

Then I wired up the six pole switch with TWO cables. One to the earth, one to earth on an item (ie bulb) and a live to the same bulb. the earth of the switch connects '3 way' to the door switch. Switch it on and off - IT WORKS.
I think - if you wanted me to be pedantic - the door puddle lights should not illuminate with the switch. They do on my simple idea. "Oh well".

The outcome is rather good because I can use a multi led inch-square in the T-bar (i.s.o. the bulb) also - I can add any other accessory LEDs because the +ve is always on (ie LED's work only one way on the + and - )

So... I can wire up an earth on a footwell LED to the overall door/tbar 'switch-earth' circuit, so either the switch or the door lights up that LED.

All this was my 'Eureka' moment.

With this 'model' I can wire ANYTHING to constant live and earth from the switch. The door or switch will turn the <whatever> on.
Whilst there I wired in a two tone buzzer so that if the ign key is removed and the door opens while the lights are on it beeps.

I saved myself an electric bill (and an attitude problem!!)