Series 3 rear stop/side lights

Mornin!

I have been having some fun with my O/S rear stop/side light, in that the brake light keeps playing up. I replaced them soon after I got the car as the ones fitted were looking worse for wear. Now I believe the problem to be user error on my part, I think I've wired the stop/tail in correctly and as a result the bulb is inserted into the plastic holder 180deg out and is bouncing out of the contacts.

The question is what lights would my early 72 SIII have had? Strangely the number plate is on the right (most seem to be on the left), should both lights have number plate lighting or only on the plate side.

thanks for any input

The bulb has 2 lugs, 1 high and 1 low.....look into the holder and you will see grooves in it to take the lugs.
Failing that get the bulb to sit correctly and swap the wires round to make them right.

The number plate on my 1977 series 3 station wagon is on the right and has its own separate lamp. I believe series 2 or 2a plates were illuminated by the tail light, the bottom of which was a white lens instead of all red. Did you replace the bulb holder unit? New ones don't seem to be much good at holding bulbs in place and cheap LED bulbs are crap at staying in properly. If the old unit was saveable, you might be better off cleaning it up and re-using it. The connectors to the lights are not great either, they are the bullet type and the surfaces of the contacts oxidise and cause a poor contact.

Col

Rodeo Joe said:

The bulb has 2 lugs, 1 high and 1 low.....look into the holder and you will see grooves in it to take the lugs.
Failing that get the bulb to sit correctly and swap the wires round to make them right.

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Thanks.

yes I can see the mistake with the wiring/bulb, both easy to fix, I was more interested to know what Lucas lights the car would have had from new, and if the number plate illumination was only on the numberplate side or on both for symmetry?

squircle said:

Thanks.

yes I can see the mistake with the wiring/bulb, both easy to fix, I was more interested to know what Lucas lights the car would have had from new, and if the number plate illumination was only on the numberplate side or on both for symmetry?

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Originally the number plate illumination was on the plate side only but over the years owners have fitted whatever lenses they had spare or could buy from a local supplier, hence, some had the plate illumination both sides. Landrover didn't know the meaning of the word symmetry, or comfort.

Col

Colthebrummie said:

The number plate on my 1977 series 3 station wagon is on the right and has its own separate lamp. I believe series 2 or 2a plates were illuminated by the tail light, the bottom of which was a white lens instead of all red. Did you replace the bulb holder unit? New ones don't seem to be much good at holding bulbs in place and cheap LED bulbs are crap at staying in properly. If the old unit was saveable, you might be better off cleaning it up and re-using it. The connectors to the lights are not great either, they are the bullet type and the surfaces of the contacts oxidise and cause a poor contact.

Col

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Thanks Col, interesting that yours has a separate number plate light. Mine when I bought it had a pair of the stop/tail/number plate lights . I will dig them out anyway and see if they are salvageable.

note those were the lights it had with lovely household screws!

squircle said:

Thanks Col, interesting that yours has a separate number plate light. Mine when I bought it had a pair of the stop/tail/number plate lights . I will dig them out anyway and see if they are salvageable.

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Mine had a tail lens with the plate illumination bit but it had been fitted by a previous owner. All series landys have had tough lives and the lenses get changes regularly. Luckily, they are cheap compared to modern light lenses.

Col

Thanks Col, I share your thoughts and conclusion. The Series models were really a work in progress. and the utilitarian nature does allow for easy cheap fixes not necessarily those which please the eye!

Rear number plates moved to the nearside on UK vehicles with the fitting of mandatory rear fog lights. All series rear lights are crap (but only around £3.
If you are not a rivet counter fit NAS spec lights.

I fitted decent LED bulbs in mine. I reckon they are about 50% brighter than the original bulbs but the size of the lights in relation to the size of the vehicle is pathetic, you see better lights on push bikes these days.

Col

Colthebrummie said:

I fitted decent LED bulbs in mine. I reckon they are about 50% brighter than the original bulbs but the size of the lights in relation to the size of the vehicle is pathetic, you see better lights on push bikes these days.

Col

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Do you know which ones you fitted, there seem to a plethora of choices!

I looked at my light at the weekend, and as suspected the wiring was reversed necessitating the lamp to be inserted 180dgrees out meaning it would bounce out of the holder on the first bump - read as immediately upon moving off in a Landy. A simple rewire and reinsertion of the lamp the correct way and all is good again in the world. Back to commuting in the beast to annoy my fellow office workmates.