Side lights

Just put new led bulbs in,but for some reason I have lost the use of my passenger side, side lights,any ideas?Headlights work great,drivers side, side lights work ok,could I have dislodged something somewhere,thanks,Maybe a bad earth or bulb connection

Try putting the old bulb back in, failing that it's time to get a voltage tester out and check how good the connections are

I had a similar problem when I put reversing bleep bulbs in. My computer told me I didn't have any action in that area. I put the car in reverse with just the ignition on and checked physically. and lo and behold! it was right, I didn't have reversing lights! needless to say the friggin' bulbs went in the bin.

If a normal bulb works and the LED doesn't it may be that someone has rewired the light in the past and reversed the connections. This would mean the live is on the outer case and negative is the centre contact. Wont affect normal bulbs but will stop LED's working unless there are additional components in the LED (a bridge rectifier). Check voltage polarity at the socket with a meter.

Checked all connections again today,look ok,but on the instrument panel I have also lost my dash lights and the handbrake light and there is a inline fuse behind the panel any ideas what this is for

freight666 said:

Checked all connections again today,look ok,but on the instrument panel I have also lost my dash lights and the handbrake light and there is a inline fuse behind the panel any ideas what this is for

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For the inline fuse, your Haynes manual wiring diagram should help (note the wire colours!).
The only ones I can see for a 1983-1994 Defender are for the radio. All others are in the fuse box (or engine bay?), so yours may be for an 'extra'.

-- Have you checked that both LED bulbs work OK?
Checking both new bulbs on both sides will confirm this.
(If needed, you can also use the front indicator bulbs to check the sidelights -- different wattage, but same cap type.)

-- Try checking your dash lights with one/both LED bulbs removed.
As suggested by Kwakerman, if the wiring is faulty, an LED bulb could show up a wiring fault that a tungsten bulb will not show. (LEDs will only work with the connections the correct way round. Tungsten bulbs don't care!)
NB Sidelights have separate circuits and fusebox fuses for left/right sides.

-- Bad ground connection?
The side light, indicator and headlight all share the same ground via a multiple plug-in connector behind the lights (not easy to reach). You may have disturbed a touch-and-go ground connection. I had this problem and had to run a new earth to a suitable bolt on the front panel.

-- Faulty fitting?
Another possibility: the original side/tail/indicator light fittings are notoriously bad and prone to leaks. You may have poor contact or corrosion within the fitting. (I have replaced all mine with a set of RDX LED units -- not cheap but they look smart and work really well.)

Thanks to all,now sorted

Spill the beans - what was it?

And it was.?!