Dash lights and rear lights go out!!

[cmcmill01]

Folks,
Driving last night and noticed the dash light cluster had gone out suddenly, couldn’t reading the speed or the revs, but worse the lights had all gone out at the rear and people where flashing me to tell me, anybody had this before and know the fix? Thanks
Craig

 

[Grimbo]

Check fuses first.... I think there's a separate gauge fuse but that may still be getting power via a side light fuse....start simple and work your way to complicated... ;-)

 

[NeilSalway]

I have had this issue on HZJ79R 2000 model. Turned out to be the headlight / indicator combination switch failing intermittently. Test by taking it out, spraying down into the headlight control with WD40 or similar, work the stuff in and reconnect. Not hard to do.

I got mine working again a couple of times but it later dropped out again without warning and I have conceded defeat and bought a new part...around $140 aftermarket.

 

[NeilSalway]

I went with aftermarket replacement...but looking back I would recommend the OEM. More expensive but the aftermarket was Chinese junk.

My problem is back intermittently...so it probably wasn't that switch at all.

 

[cmcmill01]

Update- so this is the taillight relay, which looks to have some marks around the contacts.
Is it most like a faulty relay, or something else???

 

[jo joly]

Driving first night and noticed the dash light cluster had gone out suddenly, couldn’t reading the speed or the revs, but worse the lights had all gone out at the rear and people where flashing me to tell me, anybody had this before and know the fix? Thanks for .

 

[frank rabbets]

Those relays' contacts have been loose/arcing and slowly heating for years. They melt the plastic holder in the end.

 

[frank rabbets]

P.S. Just a loose connection rather than a faulty relay per se.

 

[cmcmill01]

P.S. Just a loose connection rather than a faulty relay per se.

Thanks, will try and clean the contacts, but wondering if I need a new panel the holds the relays

 

[frank rabbets]

I had a right melt down on my headlight relay in Spain when the headlights went out. Problem was overheating caused by loose contacts. Some of the plastic relay body had dribbled down into the female socket. I had to force the relay up to peel it off. Managed to pick bits of hardened plastic out of the socket with a pair of scissors and squeeze the female copper contacts together. Then I had to take the cover off the relay and bend things back in to shape so the relay would work. Twisted the male contacts about 10 degrees, corkscrew wise, then rammed it into the holder and the headlights worked again. Not good having no headlights in Spain. We had just passed a police checkpoint in the rain and guess the lights were working then but on arriving at out Paradore realised the lights were out. Nice dry car park to work in lol.
I think your panel holder will be OK with contacts squeeze up as tight as possible. once you have a good contact there should be no further heating.

 

[cmcmill01]

Thanks @frank rabbets will give that a try

 

[NeilSalway]

Did you get it sorted mate? My intermittent fault is back...wondering if you have any insights.

 

[cmcmill01]

So I replaced the relay and everything seems to be working ok, although have only driven for about an hour with the lights on.

 

[Junaid cruiser man]

Just had the same issue last night where is the tail light relay located ?

Much appreciated

 

[Junaid cruiser man]

EDIT : same issues but on a 2001 100 series

 

[Dave2000]

As all vehicles age the resistance in the wiring/switchgear and connections goes up, this adds loads to various components allowing them to heat up, this does seem to be a particular problem with the 80 in particular the headlights, the relay sockets heat up and melt, higher wattage bulbs can also cause this, the dip beam on the 80 not the best in the world.

I have a wiring diagram for a mod to save the headlight relays and sockets, unsure where it is ATM, but in a nutshell the OE relays control another set of the more common style but much more heavier relays, these are wired so they route battery power direct to the headlights (fused of course), the wattage load no longer on the relays but on the system (wiring/switchgear) as a whole. Headlights are of course brighter with this mod, and if you fit the 'off road' 150 watt inner main beam bulbs and the 80/100 outer dip/main bulbs, this again adds no additional load to the OE system, not saying this might be legal........

Regards

Dave

 

[Towpack]

Going round all the plugs and connectors with a contact cleaning brush and some Servisol or similar is definitely worth it. I now have all LED lighting up front after finding some bulbs that give a good beam spread in the OEM housings. Yes, technically illegal I know but they passed the last two MOT's with no problem. The upshot is brighter lights and the current draw is less than 1/4 of the halogen filament bulbs.
That reminds me, the electric adjustment in the OS headlight unit has stopped working so I must get that looked at!

 

[Dave2000]

That reminds me, the electric adjustment in the OS headlight unit has stopped working so I must get that looked at!

If cleaning the plugs and forth and all good nut no joy, as I have fitted motors from my right drive 80 lights to use in my Spanish headlights, I can tell you is not very straightforward.

Feel free to give me a shout for any ideas that may help, in particular getting the headlight glass off, and more importantly putting it back on.

Regards

Dave

 

[Towpack]

Headlight adjuster now working. The multi pin plug looked perfect but got some Servisol anyway. Some tests with a MM confirmed power and earths where they should be. The manual screw adjusters on the rear of the light housing were quite stiff so they got freed up with some lube. I'm not sure if the electric adjuster utilises the same mechanisms but thought I'd sort them anyway. Everything back together and working perfectly. Initially, the motor wasn't operating so I'm going with a bad electrical connection even though the plug contacts looked brand new. Certainly no water ingress here!