weird lights/flasher/horn thing going on

hi,
i have a small electrical problem in my 1995 defender 90.
i noticed the flasher was getting a bit inconsistent and a few days ago
it stopped working altogether. now the horn has also gone so i need
to do something about it.

the side lights work fine, main lights are fine, and the full beams
work but only via the 'on' notch, not via the flasher. indicators are
also fine.

i took off the steering wheel and the steering nacell and took a look
at all the connections. i pulled out a few of them and checked for
dust and grit but they all seemed fine. the metal contacts for the
flasher mechanism also seem to be touching fine, i cleaned them off
anyway. one thing i noticed was that a very tiny spark (like really
tiny) appears between the metal contacts at the full beam 'on' notch,
when the main lights are on and when i put on full beams. if the main
lights are off (or just side-lights) then there is no spark when i put
on full beams, but then the full beams don't work anyway unless the
main lights are fully on.
does that make sense? hope i have explained it ok. at first i thought
it would need a new switch but since all the lights actually work, i
don't want to go out and get one if it's something else.

any suggestions are greatly appreciated
thanks
tim

"Tim_Mac" wrote
> hi,
> i have a small electrical problem in my 1995 defender 90.
> i noticed the flasher was getting a bit inconsistent and a few days ago
> it stopped working altogether. now the horn has also gone so i need
> to do something about it.
>
> the side lights work fine, main lights are fine, and the full beams
> work but only via the 'on' notch, not via the flasher. indicators are
> also fine.
>
> i took off the steering wheel and the steering nacell and took a look
> at all the connections. i pulled out a few of them and checked for
> dust and grit but they all seemed fine. the metal contacts for the
> flasher mechanism also seem to be touching fine, i cleaned them off
> anyway. one thing i noticed was that a very tiny spark (like really
> tiny) appears between the metal contacts at the full beam 'on' notch,
> when the main lights are on and when i put on full beams. if the main
> lights are off (or just side-lights) then there is no spark when i put
> on full beams, but then the full beams don't work anyway unless the
> main lights are fully on.
> does that make sense? hope i have explained it ok. at first i thought
> it would need a new switch but since all the lights actually work, i
> don't want to go out and get one if it's something else.
>
Check your fuses and fuse carrier, I had similar funny electrical
malfunctions on my 1986 90 despite the fuses being OK, and it was just the
fuses not making good connections in the carrier. Fine sand paper, the
merest touch of Vaseline, and a tightening of the clips did the trick.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

On Wed, 3 May 2006 18:00:34 +0100, "Bob Hobden" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>"Tim_Mac" wrote
>> hi,
>> i have a small electrical problem in my 1995 defender 90.
>> i noticed the flasher was getting a bit inconsistent and a few days ago
>> it stopped working altogether. now the horn has also gone so i need
>> to do something about it.
>>
>> the side lights work fine, main lights are fine, and the full beams
>> work but only via the 'on' notch, not via the flasher. indicators are
>> also fine.
>>
>> i took off the steering wheel and the steering nacell and took a look
>> at all the connections. i pulled out a few of them and checked for
>> dust and grit but they all seemed fine. the metal contacts for the
>> flasher mechanism also seem to be touching fine, i cleaned them off
>> anyway. one thing i noticed was that a very tiny spark (like really
>> tiny) appears between the metal contacts at the full beam 'on' notch,
>> when the main lights are on and when i put on full beams. if the main
>> lights are off (or just side-lights) then there is no spark when i put
>> on full beams, but then the full beams don't work anyway unless the
>> main lights are fully on.
>> does that make sense? hope i have explained it ok. at first i thought
>> it would need a new switch but since all the lights actually work, i
>> don't want to go out and get one if it's something else.
>>
>Check your fuses and fuse carrier, I had similar funny electrical
>malfunctions on my 1986 90 despite the fuses being OK, and it was just the
>fuses not making good connections in the carrier. Fine sand paper, the
>merest touch of Vaseline, and a tightening of the clips did the trick.

I had trouble with the flasher being inconsistant in my car and it was
all down to a dodgy earth. Refitting the flasher relay bracket nice
and tight was all it needed in my case.

bob and tom, thanks for the replies, this is great advice. i will give
it another go tomorrow and post my findings.

cheers
tim

it was just a blown fuse.... how embarassing. i didn't think the full
beam flasher would need a fuse for it's on/off mechanism, specially
seeing as the full beams were working, but there you go. my honker
works now too. at least now i know what a blown fuse looks like.
thanks for all the help.