Just getting the Millard Weekender ready to pass registration. i.e It's been off the road for about two years due to illness & plates were handed in. No point in forking out all that money for no good reason.
Anyway, decided I needed to replace the old Blinker/Brake/Tail Light assemblies with new because of corrosion. The new identical Narva's turned up promptly & pretty good price. From here:- VintageCaravanSpares <auctivacommerce_auto@auctiva.com>
Anyway,, all's well until I fit the Right Hand Blinker Globe then all the rear fittings blink; Tail light & left hand blinker as well, blinks. RH Blinker globe that I had just inserted has dull glow. Remove the RH blinker globe & Tail & Left Hand Blinker, OK.
I've replaced or checked all other globes around the van. (The side lights don't seem to be affected)
Tested with both the old & new fittings; same result.
As I said, it's off the road, (unregistered) So I'd have to find an auto electrician that's prepared to visit.
The colours of the wires are completely different at these fittings to the wires at the car contact point.
I'm suspecting that this is not going to be an easy problem but any suggestions would be welcome.
EDIT: OH! Just compounded when the Wife became available - When depressing the brake, the RH light comes on as expected but the LH does not respond and the tail light goes out.
-- Edited by harrydiculous on Saturday 29th of February 2020 03:38:15 PM
I am with old col on this one bad earth somewhere . you dont say how old the van is . some of the old wiring setups relied on earthing thru the ball if so run a dedicated earth, even use a jumper cable from the tow vehicle chassis to the van A frame just to eliminate bad earth
Are you using the small 7 pin trailer socket, I seem to recall that a terminal screw can come loose and short out causing something like that. If you are using them, it may be an idea to check tighten the terminal screws in both the plug and socket.
I concur with those above. Almost certain to be a bad earth. Has all the hallmarks of it being that.
Check that the ends of the old wires are clean and not corroded.
Thank you all. It was indeed a bad earth. I assumed that the Narva units supplied were identical to the old. On a casual look, they certainly appeared so. However, on the old, the metal plate on the back which extended to one of the screws that secured the unit to the body which supplied the earth. On the new unit, this extension was absent. Instead there was a lug. So, you needed to fix a wire from a body fitting screw to that lug to carry the earth.
Once I did that, job's good.
Although not quite. The "guts" of the new unit are far less robust than the old. It took some bending to get the light fittings into place. I hope they stay there. I'll be carrying old ones as spares after I clean them up a bit.
Thanks again; I was fearful of having to pay an Auto Electrician to do a house visit.
Next week, I should be able to get registration. Everything else seems OK.
With the earth for the rear lights being to the body of the van I would also check the plug on the front of the van. Older vans often relied on an earth circuit through the tow ball. This is no longer legal and if it is the case with yours I would add the earth circuit through the plug.
With the earth for the rear lights being to the body of the van I would also check the plug on the front of the van. Older vans often relied on an earth circuit through the tow ball. This is no longer legal and if it is the case with yours I would add the earth circuit through the plug.
Alan
Thanks Alan; yep! checked & has the white earth wire on the offset pin on the 7 pin plug.
I reckon the best way to fit new lights is to run a new wiring loom. the wiring will be in simular condition as the lights and you can spend a lot of time chasing faults only to have it fail a couple of days later
cheers
blaze
I reckon the best way to fit new lights is to run a new wiring loom. the wiring will be in similar condition as the lights and you can spend a lot of time chasing faults only to have it fail a couple of days later cheers blaze
Not too practical on my van as the 'loom' is mostly behind the sheeting & not able to be pulled out. I do replace the 7 pin plugs every decade or so though, and I spray them with WD40 before each trip!
PS. Before I replaced all the incandescent bulbs with LED units I always had problems like those described in this thread. Strange symptoms with faulty earths & corroded fittings. Never have a problem these days and the lights are just so much brighter from all angles.
I made up a test box that enables me to use the van battery at the A frame Andersen Plug to power a set of switches to test, through the 7 pin plug, all of the lights & brakes. Saves having to connect the tug & have someone operate the brake pedal. In 20 years I have only had one issue with the Patrol side of things & that was my fault introduced when I inserted a wrong flasher unit as part of a misguided maintenance routine.
-- Edited by Cupie on Monday 2nd of March 2020 10:57:37 AM
