Land Rover 90 - blowing fuses

Hi,

I've got an obsession with Defenders and finally just bought an old 1990 Land Rover 90 300tdi conversation it's pretty tidy but no pimped out show pony however it has a couple of little niggles.

First the front nearside sidelight keeps blowing fuses but I can see why. It's fitted with LED replacement ones. I know bugger all about auto electrics so have no idea where to start other then replacing the fuse which obviously didn't work.

Similarly the red tail lights are also not working. I've tried to identify the correct fuse however nothing seems to work.

Finally the wipers don't seem to work on intermittent. From the stalks top position down I have off, off, normal and fast. I guess the second off should be intermittent but again I have no idea where to start.

I did try a bit of Googling but nothing obvious jumped out.

Only had it a couple of days and finding issues haha I should get used to it really.

Any help would be appropriated

Just read the using a multimeter post and subsequent electrical testing ones... Got a good idea where to start now!

You could try asking in here
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/forum/defender-90-110-130.7/

So I did some testing with the multimeter.

The light itself measured the same resistance as the working one.

I then did green wire to ground and got 3 ohms, black wire to ground 0.

On the working side both got 0 ohms which says to mean the issue is with the green (live?) Wire.

I traced the wire back and it goes into the loom and then off out of sight. How can I locate the short without pulling a load of wiring and parts out?

Likely you have a short in the live feed to the bulb.
I would suggest making up a gizmo to allow you to substitute a headlight bulb for the fuse. This will light up when the wire is earthed but unlike the fuse won't blow.
When the light is on follow the wire giving it a wiggle as you go to see if the bulb goes out. Common shorts are where wires pass through holes in the bodywork if the loom has been rubbing.
Failing that you are going to have to unwrap & follow the part(s) of the loom containing the suspect wire.

Ratae said:

Likely you have a short in the live feed to the bulb.
I would suggest making up a gizmo to allow you to substitute a headlight bulb for the fuse. This will light up when the wire is earthed but unlike the fuse won't blow.
When the light is on follow the wire giving it a wiggle as you go to see if the bulb goes out. Common shorts are where wires pass through holes in the bodywork if the loom has been rubbing.
Failing that you are going to have to unwrap & follow the part(s) of the loom containing the suspect wire.

Click to expand...

Cool ok, man that sounds like grief! I need to spend a good couple of hours looking at it, so far time has always been against me.

Check the bulbholder itself to rule out the possibility of it being faulty & bypassing the bulb straight to earth.

A really good place to look is has a tow bar been fitted at some stage, If so then check the tow bar electrics underneath as this is the usual place to find a short.

Steve.

As far as your rear lights are concerned & assuming you have power to them are they connected the right way round - an issue with LEDs.

Could be a short in the wiring under the near side wing. My near side front indicator was constantly blowing fuses, especially after rain. I found this in the wiring...

After I repaired the wiring it’s never happened again. It’s a very common place for the wiring to wear through.

bluedog333 said:

Could be a short in the wiring under the near side wing. My near side front indicator was constantly blowing fuses, especially after rain. I found this in the wiring...View attachment 195137

After I repaired the wiring it’s never happened again. It’s a very common place for the wiring to wear through.

Click to expand...

Ah ok that's very helpful, I'll hopefully have some time this weekend to have a look. Man I hope it's not further down the loom where I can't get to!

DecayingRat said:

Ah ok that's very helpful, I'll hopefully have some time this weekend to have a look. Man I hope it's not further down the loom where I can't get to!

Click to expand...

I managed to access the entire loom from inside the engine bay, it was a bit fiddly, but doable. I removed the wheel spat, but I can’t remember if that actually helped or not! I think it did.

Anyone know where to get 25mm fuses?

Looked on eBay and Amazon but they all seem to be 240v house ones or stupidly priced (£15 for 5!)

Still no joy, I'm thinking maybe a relay has gone for the tail lights and number plate light?

DecayingRat said:

Anyone know where to get 25mm fuses?

Looked on eBay and Amazon but they all seem to be 240v house ones or stupidly priced (£15 for 5!)

Still no joy, I'm thinking maybe a relay has gone for the tail lights and number plate light?

Click to expand...

Aren’t they 30mm ( I think actually 1 3/16” )? Plenty of cheap ones out there.

bluedog333 said:

Aren’t they 30mm ( I think actually 1 3/16” )? Plenty of cheap ones out there.

Click to expand...

The ones I picked up from Halfrauds are a smidge too long compared to the ones fitted and I thought I saw something here about LR ones being 25mm. Could alway get some 20mm ones and see how they fit.

I've had a poke around. The wiring at the rear looks ok and I can't see any breaks or loose connections.

Fuses wise I've tested for voltage across the terminals with the headlight switch both on and off.

From top to bottom on the left the first two are always live the rest dead.

Looking at the symbols, the one immediately right of the horn I'm guessing is the tail lights bit then it's live even when headlights are off. But also there's an R light symbol left of the windscreen washer symbol.

Urgh I'm none the wiser!!