New series owner with a lighting fault

Hi All,

Just a quick introduction to myself, i have recently purchased a 74 2.25 petrol series III and cant stop smiling since the day I bought it. A friend recommended this site to me and so far I have replaced a door top, several gaskets and the speedo cable with the help of landyzone.

My query relates to the front drivers parking light, everything was working fine up until a few days ago when I noticed it stopped working, so naturally enough I changed the bulb and still nothing.

I'm not the most comfortable with electrics but just looking for some advice where to start with this problem. All connections look fine too.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Landiman said:

Hi All,

Just a quick introduction to myself, i have recently purchased a 74 2.25 petrol series III and cant stop smiling since the day I bought it. A friend recommended this site to me and so far I have replaced a door top, several gaskets and the speedo cable with the help of landyzone.

My query relates to the front drivers parking light, everything was working fine up until a few days ago when I noticed it stopped working, so naturally enough I changed the bulb and still nothing.

I'm not the most comfortable with electrics but just looking for some advice where to start with this problem. All wire connections look fine too.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Click to expand...

Very simple in a Series. Two wires, one going to earth (probably rad mounting panel) and one live linking to the light the other side. Check the contacts inside the bulbholder, check the earth is earthed, if you don't have any joy run a seperate feed from a known source ie a working light and then a seperate earth...to the engine block or any other earth (so long as you know it's good.

If you still can't find the fault burn it ps....get a multimeter....is much easier

Haha cheers for that, I'll give it a go this evening. A multimeter sounds like a worthy investment when it comes to landy electrics!!

Get a multimeter with a tacho, Good for setting RPM
After electrics the carb will give you hours of fun

Gotta be an earth fault mine always are. As blue beastly says get a multi meter and check 12v feed if you have that is an earth problem. Build holders are prone to corrosion and hence poor earthing, also clean up where the ring terminal attaches to rad panel. Enjoy she'll keep you busy for years

The other thing that is very handy when diagnosing electrical faults in any Rover is a test lamp. This can be as simple as an indicator socket with wires attached to it, or splash out the three quid at the auto shop and get one of the ones that looks like a screwdriver with a light bulb inside and a wire out the top.

A multimeter is a great tool (I have several for various specialized jobs) but what it does not do is put a load on the circuit to expose dodgy connections and the like. This can lead to false positives - "Oh, i see 11 volts there it must be OK" when there's not enough conductivity in the circuit to transmit current to light the damn bulb.

Been there fought that to a standstill...no fun.

Also, the test lamp is just a really handy way to check things - ground the wire from one end and then justlook for voltage on contacts - lamp lights you're good - if it doesn't...well...you might have found the problem.

ajr