Electrical problem

[moschops]

Hiya,

Whilst driving home from work in my 1968 2-door, I noticed the indicator stalk had stopped flashing. No problem, I thought, it's the bulb thats blown.

On checking it when I got home, the bulb was okay, but the indicators had stopped working. I immediately checked the fuse, but this was ok. I then swapped the flasher unit - still no indicators.

I then tried every other system on the car.

lights - works
washer jets - works
fuel pump - works
engine - works
radio - works
brake lights - not working
interior light - not working
wipers - not working
horn - not working
heater - not working

As you can see, things from both sides of the fuse box work, and things that rely on the ignition work, so I've eliminated these (unless I'm missing something basic?).

No wires appear to be loose, or off, and everything was working when I set off from work as far as I know.

The car is standard, except for an electric washer pump fitted years ago, and running an alternator, again fitted years ago.

I'm stumped here, and don't want to have to use arm signales on my way to work tomorrow, as I'm not convinced other road users will recognise them.

[Willie]

Puzzling!! The horn and the interior light are fed from fuse 1,
the one with a brown wire on one side and purple wires on the other.
The stop lamps,fuel gauge,flashers and windscreen wipers etc are fed
through fuse 2, the one with white wires on one side and green on the
other. The engine works because it does not pass through the fuse
on the white wire end but is teed off straight to the coil. Likewise the
fuel pump which should also be ok. From your evidence then both fuses are blown or have bad contact with their fuse holder. Try the usual of
cleaning the fuse ends and the fuse holder clips.

[NZJLY]

If you can check the fuses with a tester, or change them, as I have fuses that look OK but don't work. The other idea maybe, you have lost a common earth.
Don't you just love morries

[Alec]

Hello MC,
strange for both fuses to go 'off' at the same time, I would check the heavy brown cable that feeds the fuse box, bad or broken connection, it is fed, I think, from the starter solenoid and has a large Lucar connector. As there are so many earths, it is not the likely cause.

Alec

[moschops]

Hmmm.

Since it's been raining, stuff has been working. Luckily for the other road users of Nottingham, as I can now see where I'm going.

I'm pretty sure it's a loose connector somewhere, seeing as stuff now works again. Well, all except the horn and interior light - they still refuse to play ball.

[Willie]

well they are both fed through the same fuse, brown wire one side
and 2 purple on the other side. Did you clean the fuse holder clips?
The only remotely common item which could have affected both
fuses in your earlier failures is the CONTROL BOX. Try cleaning
ALL of the terminals on this box particularly terminals 'A' and 'A1'
(not necessary to touch the innards, leave the cover on)

[jojax64]

Having experienced dodgy indicators, wipers, courtesy light and horn I decided that to fit a brand new fusebox and regulator box would be a good idea.
These items are cheap, easy to replace and gives peace of mind when you know you've fitted new ones. Plus the fact that you've ruled them out as possibly being faulty if you have electrical problems in future. Go on, replace them!

[Stig]

Sounds very familiar: no blower, wipers, indicators. It's (as someone already said) the fuse with the purple wires off it. I'm guessing the fuse is intact but the contacts (fuse & holder) are too badly tarnished as that's the problem I had. Try cleaning them up with a bit of fine glasspaper then a squirt of WD40 once things start working again. I had to spend some time cleaning them -a quick wiggle of the fuse didn't do anything.

Not sure about the horn though as I'm pretty sure it's not fused. I have had to replace that wire in my loom though. ...and my interior light has never worked!

[Onne]

The horn is fed through a fuse! On my series II anyway. Only got two fuses, one fo the horn (35A!!) and one for the rest. Doesn't make any sense, but it works

[bigginger]

Does make sense - the horn is a real current pig... and one's plenty for the rest!

[Onne]

My horn does actually..... The lights almost dim.... scary

[Stig]

The horn is fed through a fuse!

Now you've got me worried. Did I run the new wire from the right side of the fusebox...?

[Willie]

The Horn and the interior light are fed through the same fuse which
is live at all times, it does not rely on the ignition being switched on.

[moschops]

Update.

I cleaned everything up, and made sure every connection I could get to (including those behind the dashboard) was cleaned too. All fuses were checked (they were all ok).

The horn and interior light still refused to play.

A few days later they started working.

Of course, I've not tried to find out why. They work, so I'll leave well alone!

Still reckon there's a connection somewhere i've not found and cleaned up.

P.S. I'll sort out a pic of the car, and get it on here as the rest of you already do. Who knows, you may spot a gremlin hiding under a wheelarch or something.