Brake/Tail Light problem

[stustag]

Hi All

I have a frustrating problem with the OSR brake light which is dim when the pedal is applied or goes out altogether if the light are on:shock:

If just lights on bulb OK.

I have fitted a new bulb holder today with no change to the problem:?

I am confused!

Stuart

[GDPR]

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Add a seperate earth to the bulb holder - the earth is crap and the brake light is earthing via the sidelamp circuit..... when the lights are off, you effectively have 2 bulbs in series hence trhat brake light is dim, and then when the lights are on the sidelamp is earthing via the brake light earth on the other side via the bulb - this earth disappears when you press the brake as 12v is being applied to both sides hence no lamp at all being lit.

Russ:dude:

[mickl]

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Hi stuart

Try the dimming relay in the rear nearside wing behind the carpet panel.

I had similar problem and have removed the relay, all my lights are now nice and bright, the purpose of the relay if I remember correctly was to dim the brake lights when the lights were on so as not to dazzle folllowing drivers at night,:? I think you will find a lot of owners have removed this item.

Hope this helps

Mick l

[GDPR]

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Might be worth re-reading Stuart's post Mick..... plus he has a late Mk2 without the dimming relay

[stustag]

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Hi Russ

Extra earth run onto bulb holder (new holder has extra terminal for earth) and all is well and working again!

Thanks mate forum rules again!

Stuart

[Andy Rundell]

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Add an extra earth yourself, or there are some modded lamp-holders with extra earths.... Tony Hart was selling them a while ago

.......Andy

[mickl]

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kryten wrote:

Might be worth re-reading Stuart's post Mick..... plus he has a late Mk2 without the dimming relay

You are right russ as usual:dude: I didn,t read the post correctly,

I did not know that late mk 2s did not have that relay, you learn something new every day.

If I was sorting this on my own car I would prob have tried the earth first as its the easiest thing to do.

Hope I did not cause confusion Stuart.



Mick L

[stustag]

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mickl wrote:

kryten wrote:

Might be worth re-reading Stuart's post Mick..... plus he has a late Mk2 without the dimming relay

You are right russ as usual:dude: I didn't,t read the post correctly,

I did not know that late Mk 2s did not have that relay, you learn something new every day.

If I was sorting this on my own car I would prob have tried the earth first as its the easiest thing to do.

Hope I did not cause confusion Stuart.



Mick L

No problem mick I read Russ's post before yours!

What threw me was the old bulb holder had a loose fitting cage and if wiggled the bulb would work correctly, I therefore assumed the problem was the holder not an earth problem. Only when fitting a new holder (which has the extra earth Andy) did I realise there was another reason for the problem.

As usual I could not be bothered to try finding the fault by trial and error so posted on the forum 25 mins later answer problem solved first time no cost involved

Stuart

[Guest]

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Another option to consider. If you do not want to purchase new holders they can be modified very easy. The main problem is due to the earth connection from the bulb to the bulb holder. This relies on tension from the bulb to press on the outer connection of the holder but age and corrosion causes problems. Easy way is to drill a small hole, connect ( solder ) a wireto the earth terminal then run the wire to a known good earth on the car. You could just solder the terminal direct but I have found that this does not last very long. Hopefully the picture says it all, worked on my Car.

Don Kennedy.