Morris Minor Owners Club

My daughter's 1965 saloon has a lighting problem. Switch the lighting switch to the first position and front & rear lights all work fine. Switch to the second position and the headlamps work but the front pilot lamps, rear tail lamps & number plate lamp all go off. I am aware that the wiring for the pilot lamps & rear lamps is coded red and that for the headlamps is blue so does this mean that the fault is at the switch? If not, where should I look first please?

By pilot lights I assume you mean the side lights (the ones with the indicators in the same assembly)
I have not come across this before but the symptons do seem to point in the direction of the switch.

Yes Kevin I do mean side lights. I only called them pilot lights because that's what Haynes calls them!

Hello vernon,

it doe sound very much like a switch problem or that the wiring has been disturbed and replaced on the wrong terminals. If it is one of those Lucas toggle switches with 5 or 6 terminals it is very easy to get them wrong.

Alec

I only called them pilot lights because that's what Haynes calls them!

Must be an oversears spec manual as mine calls them side lights, the wonderful world of Haynes I suppose.

Kevin, Haynes shows them as pilot lamps in the wiring diagram.

As said, either the wiring has been put on wrongly, or the switch is duff.

I can't remember if the BoL (Haynes) is right about whcih wire goes to which terminal on the switch, but I did mine with a multimeter anyway, was easy and quick to do.

Yes - it's just wrongly connected at the switch. It is possible to connect the switch so the side/pilot lights at the front go OUT when the headlights come on - but the rear side/pilot lights and number plate light stay on! Just play about with the connections.

Thanks for all your replies. I'll "play about" with the switch connections as soon as the car is available. I just wonder how it passed the MOT this year as the switch has not been tampered with since. Perhaps the switch has developed a fault since January. I'll let you know the outcome.

Well - they maybe checked the side lights - all ok, and then checked the headlamps - not noticing that the side lights had gone out!

I spent this afternoon "playing about" with the lighting switch (after removing the drivers glove box surround and liner and holding a mini maglite torch in my mouth) and it was wrongly connected. The output was connected to terminals 5 & 7 instead of 7 & 8. My daughter bought the car in January with a new MOT so the tester didn't do a very good job. Anyway, all is working now so many thanks for your replies which pointed me in the right direction.
Colin

It is possible to connect them (as I have done) so the first position brings on the headlamps and pilot lamps - and the second position is just the pilot lamps. Thus the switch can be used to 'flash' the headlamps - best if they are left in high beam position of course.
Well done sorting it out - and you can see how that fault could quite easily catch out an MOT inspector.
When rallying my Minor many moons ago - I had a secret switch that cut off the rear side lamps - and the brake lamps - to disadvantage anyone following me !

When rallying my Minor many moons ago - I had a secret switch that cut off the rear side lamps - and the brake lamps - to disadvantage anyone following me !

Only off road I hope.

Of course - NOT!