Something for the electrically minded.....
My wife was following me yesterday and noticed that my rear off side indicator glowed when braking. On further inspection today, I can see that that all three off side indicator bulbs glow constantly when the brakes are applied, as does the off side tail light. They take a couple of seconds to build up but are still well under half full brightness.
I suspected a problem around the rear offside cluster but the plate that holds the bulbs looks clean and undamaged. If I remove the brake light bulb, none of the other bulbs glow when they shouldn't.
I had a problem about a year ago when the bulb in the fog light switch illuminated when it shouldn't. Braking or indicating right caused the switch light to either come on constantly or flash in time with the indicators respectively. I investigated with a multimeter and found a wire at the switch coming live and causing the said effects. I fitted a diode which resolved the symptoms, though it was doing just that and not tackling the cause.
I've just taken the diode out, it's caused the fog light switch issue to come back as it was before but hasn't affected the problem noticed yesterday.
I suppose that the brake light circuit illuminating is somehow providing an earth path for the other bulbs. This has the hallmarks of something I could spend many hours on but which has a simple cause, if anyone knows what it is.
Any suggestions would be very gratefully received.
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You have a poor or open circuit earth on the stoplights, allowing the 'earthy' end to feed power to the other lamps. I don't know where the earths are on your car, but if you follow the lead that comes from the outer part of the bulb you may find it, if not you could always run a new one.
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its a fawlty bulb fawlty
got one in the bar,long tails you know
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Peter,
You were spot on with diagnosis and proposed solution. Further inspection revealed that the contacts for the earth pin on the multiplug for the OSR light cluster were splayed apart just a little, so not gripping the pin on the bulb plate very well. The pin was slightly pitted, indicating there's been arcing.
To solve the problem once and for all, I fitted a separate earth from the bulb plate to the earth point on the chassis, which was only about 15cm away. I've now been able to remove the diode from the fog light switch too.
I seem to remember previously noticing that the tail lamp on the OSR didn't look quite as bright as the NSR. This should have been a big clue - I'll know for next time!
Thanks for your promt response Peter.
Bell Boy,
I'm afraid I didn't really follow what you were saying but the problem's sorted, thanks.
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fiestas dont do this unless someones been playing as the connecters work well
i was saying the last time i had a feedback through the wiring that the bulb had gone open circuit but not fully so under reasonable loads performed perfectly
you will note that a fiesta on this year has a proper earth via an 8mm bolt
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