One Bright Brake Light Failed My MOT

Side-show-bob · Dec 23, 2009

Hi all and Merry Crimbo

My series 2a landy failed its MOT on brakes,

Rear offside light is very bright when brake is used
Braking efficancy 40%

I think the efficancy is due to air in the system when you press the brake pedal it is very soft until it has been pumped acouple of times and it gose hard, then let it off and depress it again and it is soft. I cant bleed them as when i went to try the rear bleed nipple sheered.

I am not sure what is coursing the bright light has anyone had this problem before?

Thanks

Rob

Pikey · Dec 23, 2009

Side-show-bob said:
Hi all and Merry Crimbo

My series 2a landy failed its MOT on brakes,

Rear offside light is very bright when brake is used

Braking efficancy 40%

I think the efficancy is due to air in the system when you press the brake pedal it is very soft until it has been pumped acouple of times and it gose hard, then let it off and depress it again and it is soft. I cant bleed them as when i went to try the rear bleed nipple sheered.

I am not sure what is coursing the bright light has anyone had this problem before?

Thanks

Rob

get an eziout and get ya brakes sorted before you kill someone. and the light will be dirty contacts and bad earth.

Side-show-bob · Dec 23, 2009

Steady on! I have not been driving the landrover with brakes like that! That would have been insane not to mention totally irresponsible in this weather!

Perhaps I should have made myself more clear, she has been sat on the driveway for a quite a while, and when I found us snowed in on Friday thought it would be a good idea to get her sorted out and road worthy just in case. It seemed an awful waste to have her sitting there not doing anything when I could use her to help and to get around myself.

Sean · Dec 23, 2009

Side-show-bob said:
Steady on! I have not been driving the landrover with brakes like that! That would have been insane not to mention totally irresponsible in this weather!

Perhaps I should have made myself more clear, she has been sat on the driveway for a quite a while, and when I found us snowed in on Friday thought it would be a good idea to get her sorted out and road worthy just in case. It seemed an awful waste to have her sitting there not doing anything when I could use her to help and to get around myself.

did you get it teleported to the test station ?

ed.poore · Dec 29, 2009

Side-show-bob said:
Hi all and Merry Crimbo

My series 2a landy failed its MOT on brakes,

Rear offside light is very bright when brake is used

Braking efficancy 40%

I think the efficancy is due to air in the system when you press the brake pedal it is very soft until it has been pumped acouple of times and it gose hard, then let it off and depress it again and it is soft. I cant bleed them as when i went to try the rear bleed nipple sheered.

I am not sure what is coursing the bright light has anyone had this problem before?

Thanks

Rob

With regards to the braking you might be able to drill out the bleed screw but you have to make sure that you clean it veeeerry thoroughly so you don't get fragments inside the lines. Because I had lots of problems with the brakes (it was a rebuild project) I found one of the overhaul kits from Paddock very good value for money.

My philosophy would be since brakes always need replacing at some point you might as well get the kit, try to drill out the bleed screw with the cylinder outside the vehicle and clean it. If you mess it up then you can just replace the whole cylinder. You'll then have spares for when the others need a refurb / replacement.

With regards to the lights how do the two lights (left and right) compare when the headlights are dipped and then what happens when you put your foot on the brake?

It might be a wrong connection (I did it while I was rebuilding) and you might have the dipped cable going to the brake filament thus will be very bright and not really increase in brightness when you brake. The dimmer of the two filaments should be for the dipped light setting.

If that's not the problem then I'd recommend getting some emery paper (very fine sand-paper) and cleaning all the contacts. You might also have a bad earth connection.

w3526602 · Dec 30, 2009

Hi,

I can't understand how a stop lamp can be too bright. ???? The bulb should be a double filament 6W + 21W. It should be impossible to get more than 21W out of a 21W bulb. Or should it? If the bulb is close to blowing, might it shine a little brighter?

Also, at some point in history, there was a law that stop lamps should be dimmed when side lamps are switched on, to prevent dazzling the car behind, at night. I have only met one car with this device (Triumph Spitfire), and I by-passed it. Does this law still apply, and if it does, how does it affect high level stop lamps?

Or do you mean that one stop lamp bulb come on when you switch on the side lamps?

602

The Mad Hat Man · Dec 30, 2009

The dual filament bulb should be 21/5w, not 21/6w as only certain modern cars use a 6w side light. Certainly not a 2a.
Check the wiring at the back first. It seems that you either have an earth fault, a miswiring or one of the bulbs has been fitted incorrectly (although the bulb is keyed by means of two offset pins - it is still possible to fit it 180 degrees out. Parricularly in a worn bulb holder). I have seen several vehicles fitted with twin filament bulbs in a single filament bulb position.

ed.poore · Dec 30, 2009

w3526602 said:
I can't understand how a stop lamp can be too bright. ???? The bulb should be a double filament 6W + 21W. It should be impossible to get more than 21W out of a 21W bulb. Or should it? If the bulb is close to blowing, might it shine a little brighter?

It could shine brighter without having to blow but you have to ramp up the voltage to do that. It seems extremely unlikely (unless you've got the wrong kind of bulb fitter) that you are getting more than 12V out of the battery. The battery could supply well in excess of the current required for the bulb but that won't happen.

w3526602 said:
Also, at some point in history, there was a law that stop lamps should be dimmed when side lamps are switched on, to prevent dazzling the car behind, at night. I have only met one car with this device (Triumph Spitfire), and I by-passed it. Does this law still apply, and if it does, how does it affect high level stop lamps?

I suspect if the cars old enough then the law doesn't apply. However it is really annoying to have bright lights (particularly fog-lights) on when they're not required.

w3526602 said:
Or do you mean that one stop lamp bulb come on when you switch on the side lamps?

That is actually what I was referring to, i.e. when you switch on the side-lights the stop lights come on and then when you touch the brakes the rear side-lights come on.

Try switching on the side-lights and note their brightness, then press the brake pedal and see if there's a change, if there's nothing obvious then chances are the wiring's incorrect and the wrong filaments are being switched on. You should notice a big difference between the side-lights filaments and the stop-light filaments.

fenby1976 · Dec 30, 2009

A brake light being too bright sounds very odd. Could the Land-Rover be a military variant with a 24 volt electrical system? In which case fitting a normal 12v bulb would result in the bulb dissipating twich as much power as it should. On the other hand if the vehicle electrics are 12v, could the bulb be a 6 volt type?

Sean · Dec 30, 2009

anyone suggested swapping the bulbs and seeing if the problem moves ?

or is that too simple a suggestion

seren · Dec 30, 2009

Side-show-bob said:
Hi all and Merry Crimbo

My series 2a landy failed its MOT on brakes,

Rear offside light is very bright when brake is used

Braking efficancy 40%

I think the efficancy is due to air in the system when you press the brake pedal it is very soft until it has been pumped acouple of times and it gose hard, then let it off and depress it again and it is soft. I cant bleed them as when i went to try the rear bleed nipple sheered.

I am not sure what is coursing the bright light has anyone had this problem before?

Thanks

Rob

Hi I would try a new bulb first, Cheapest and easiest, as someone as already sugested.

fenby1976 · Dec 30, 2009

Sean said:
anyone suggested swapping the bulbs and seeing if the problem moves ?

or is that too simple a suggestion

Better to fit a new wiring loom, alternator, battery and lamp holder before finally resorting to changing the bulb.

ed.poore · Dec 30, 2009

Sean said:
anyone suggested swapping the bulbs and seeing if the problem moves ?

or is that too simple a suggestion

Waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy toooo simple :doh:

G-man · Dec 31, 2009

has anyone considered it could just be the other side is too dim and the tester is a bit thick...........

for the price of it stick a new wheel cylinder on rather than **** about getting the old nipple out! for the money you will save ( a couple of quid) its not worth the doing

check for corrosion on the terminals on both side brake lights......

and finally as far as i am aware excessive brightness is not a reason for rejection..... well i cant find it in the testers manual anyhow!

One Bright Brake Light Failed My MOT

Side-show-bob

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Pikey

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Side-show-bob

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Sean

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w3526602

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fenby1976

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Sean

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