electrical problems

[JOHN LEARMONTH]

Since getting my car back i seem to be plagued with a few minor electrical problems and i wondered if anybody could shead some light on possible causes ?
the one that i am really stumped with is th main beam flash on the indicator stalk
first investigation revealed a broken wire, easy i thaught reconnect the wire jobs a good one,
but not so it still doesn`t work, so i cleaned the contacts, and it still doesn`t work
the main beam works fine when the stalk is pushed forward into its normal position
i have a hazard flash relay and a horn relay on order could these failures have anything to do with the lights flash ?

any advice greatly appreciated
thanks
john

[shenderson]

It seems that power is getting in and out via the dip switch so the problem must be in the switch.  It might be possible to repair it by very careful dismantling, otherwise I think a new switch is required.

You will prolong the life of the switch if you fit a relay in the circuit.  The dip and flash switches would then only control the switching current rather than the full current to the lamps.

Unless you are bothered about originality, use modern Bosch relays instead of the standard Lucas junk.

Good luck

Steve

[Greeks]

This thread might help you:
http://club.triumph.org.uk/cgi-bin/blah/Blah.pl?b=tr78,m=1155831562
:)

[wakaday]

Check your fuses. I have seen fuses fitted in between the correct place for them. Its easily done. Make sure the gaps between each fuse is the same across the entire row.

[JOHN LEARMONTH]

Thanks for all the help guys
i have finally managed to solve most of the problems by luck more than anything else
the replacement relays arrived from rimmers sat morning
neither of which work, the hazard relay only has 2 contacts where as the original has 4 and the horn relay has all the conectors the same size where as the originals has the two outer ones smaller ,
so after scrabbling around in the passenger footwell all morning i managed to blow a fuse
(me and the car)
replaced the fuse and also at this point noticed that i had a headlight out so replaced that as well, put everything back together and guess what almost everything works
hazards work, horn works all the lights work (almost) even the clock has sprung back into life
carnt really explain it except that maybe the connections were not very good and in taking them off and putting them back on again i have made a cleaner contact
the only thing that now still doesnt is the lights flash, i think a new switch is in order there
John

[shenderson]

I found that some of the fuse holders on the fuse box were loose, causing intermittent connections, so that's worth checking.

The fuse holders are on the front of the fuse box, in the engine bay, and rivetted to the terminals on the other side of the fusebox, in the footwell.  Some of the rivets were a bit loose; the only cure was to remove the fuse box and solder across from each terminal to the rivet, and repeat on the other side for each fuse holder.

A laborious job, and you need a powerful soldering iron.  Like I said, Lucas junk!

Steve

[stoutgoose]

I had the same problem; main beam was fine but flash main didn't work.  I had a look at the steering column main/dip switch and found that with use, the contacts had moved a little too far apart to make a good circuit, even though on observation, it looked like contact with the flash switch was being made.

Using a small electricians' screwdriver, i pushed the contacts closer together and the problem was solved.

(I find Rimmers very expensive and sometimes lacking in knowledge.  If you need an expert, use E.J.Ward for advice.  They are also cheaper than Rimmers for spares!)

[Richard B]

That full beam/flash unit becomes a bit problematical with age and the high current of Halogens. One option is to convert to relays for the headlights.