Strange wiring and lights problems

I got some odd electrical problems with my defender, wandering if anyone else has experienced this.

For about a year now I have had this problem where if I have my lights on with the engine running, I'm unable to turn off my engine unless I turn off the lights; I can take my keys out but engine will stay running until I turn off the lights.

Also the side lights are on permanently regardless of the light switch position.

And most recently I have experienced a problem whereby I am unable to indicate without the lights being on.

Any ideas?

There's a similar problem on another recent thread. Seems your lights are shorted onto the feed for the injection pump - the 12v light feed is going onto the lead to the pump. Have look behind the dash for wires that have damaged insulation.

Ignoring the potential for wiring craziness - I've had issues where a PO has hard-wired things into the lights or directly into the ignition that have caused no end of issues - it could also be some misguided connections on the ignition switch. If the lights are sharing a terminal or earthing back to the ignition it could maybe cause the lights / engine running issue?

Zeaphod explained it better...

As per another post. I had it from a faulty bulb that caused a short

Had the Landy about 4-5 years and since then have rebuilt it so they are no dodgy wires where they shouldn't be and I got rid of any of those a long time ago. I did have the idea of it being a dodgy ignition switch but I've replaced that already. all the wires look good in th engine bay as do they in the cab.

Behind the dash is a common place for these shorts - there are lots of sharp metal edges for the wires to rub against. You might try wiggling the wiring there when you have turned the key to off and the engine is still running. Follow where the wire (probably white) goes from the ignition switch to a common junction, where it is distributed to the pump, amongst other things.

zeaphod said:

Behind the dash is a common place for these shorts - there are lots of sharp metal edges for the wires to rub against. You might try wiggling the wiring there when you have turned the key to off and the engine is still running. Follow where the wire (probably white) goes from the ignition switch to a common junction, where it is distributed to the pump, amongst other things.

Click to expand...

Yep, it is white. You can see it running to the injector. But if i'm honest, i don't see many places where the wires could go wrong.. Injector>Main engine wiring bundle>Through bulkhead>ignition switch.
Not unless some wires have melted/been cut.

Thanks I will try this. Although I can't help thinking it must be something other than a rubbing wire, just because it's never intermittent. The side lights have been on permanently for over a year and I use it everyday. When I've had problems with rubbing wires in the past it's always been a fault that's intermittent. I may pull the dash out to be sure though

I don't know all that much about electrics but could it be worth trying to replace the light switch as that's basically acting as an ignition switch at the moment. I'm thinking the light switch has a permanent live( hence you can leave the side lights on) so could that be something to do with it?

The lighting circuit should not be connected to the injection pump solenoid feed. You have a short somewhere, between the output of the ignition switch and your lighting feed. If left alone, this could eventually give you a nice little fire behind the dash, best get it sorted.

All sorted, the sidelight wire behind the fuse box was melted into another wire

Pretty much what it usually is. The insulation on Land Rover wires isn't that great. It's just the labour of unpeeling the wiring looms and tracing all the wires to see which one it is that's failed. You've got to admire the buyers they employ at Solihull, scouring the world for cables of the very poorest quality - insulation that's going to melt at room temperature, or crack and flake off, copper that's alloyed with something cheap and nasty that makes it go brittle so it breaks inside the insulation, crimp on connectors that vibrate loose.You don't get that sort of quality if you just pop in to Maplins.