Electrical Help Needed Quickly!

[Ian_Fearn]

It turns out the MOT has ran out on the 4x4 and i need to get it back on the road ASAP.

The rear fog light is the main thing wrong with it. I've changed the switch and the bulb and neither lights work.

Is the wiring below a bodge?

Electrics really arent my thing, i wouldnt know what to do with a multimeter.

[Stinkwheel]

I cant say its a bodge as such, just the most simple solution to something i would say. Looks like someone needed an earth in a hurry and that was the easiest way of doing it.

Anyone wanna prove or disprove my thoughts?

[M]

Exactly the same earth repair on Vera and also on Rubina (thankfully Mandy doesnt need one yet) - works a treat so I have left alone.

Do you have 12V at the lamp cluster when teh switch is on - if not out with the DMM and chase the fault - otherwise graft a new lenghth of wire in from the relay / switch back.

[Ian_Fearn]

I'm sorry but i do NOT understand electrics. They are for clever people.... i am not!

Where exactly do i need to put the multimeter probes?

[Barnsley BXer]

Stick 'em where the sun don't shine Sorry mate warped sense of humour overcame me again

[Ian_Fearn]

Yes, the car has a pukka citroen towbar with the electrics fitted. Where is this cut off thingy likely to be?

[DavidRutherford]

it's built into the socket. The system works very much like plugging in headphones to a stereo system cuts out the speakers: When you plug in the trailer, the foglamps on the car should "cut out".

But... a bit of corrosion in the socket, and the fog lamps remain cut out perrmanently.

To bypass the fog cut system, find the foglamp feed to the socket, and the return to the car lamp clusters, and bridge them together. The fog cut system will no longer work, but the foglamps will (hopefully)

[M]

it's built into the socket.

Not necesserally (sic)
Vera had a genuine Citroen jobbie and had a little fog light cut out box inside the nearside rear wing - this enables a normal 12N type socket to be used and senses the current draw bypassing the lamp - load of tosh and didnt work on Vera, so I cut it out & hard wired the lamp in anyway so both van & car lit up (same on old Laguna) - never bothered me really.

[jeremy]

Had this one on my TD - proper socket long since gone! - All power for the towbar comes from LH light unit. Temporary repair is simply to unplug the towbar lights and plug the rest back in - quite obvious when you look. I eventually found the foglight lead in the ribbon cable and bridged it.

jeremy

[sleepy0905]

Had similar problem last week with the tail lamps check the contacts are clean and that the bulb cantacts are clean i ended up bending the contact at the bottom of the buld hole up a little and hey presto cured.

[Ian_Fearn]

When you say LH do you mean passenger side on a RHD car?

[jeremy]

Yes I do mean the passenger side of a RHD car. In fact I think all BX (and Citroen) backlight wiring runs from left to right with most of the bits being in the LH unit.

jeremy

[Ian_Fearn]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Jon your a bloody genius!!

I pulled all the towbar connectors off (luckily they're all Citroen standard parts) and its all working perfectly now!!

Thanks to all that have helped!

[DavidRutherford]

normal 12N type socket to be used and senses the current draw bypassing the lamp

That's a bit cleverer than the "switch in the socket" type.

Although the same fix is no doubt true.... disconnect feed from wiring loom and feed to car fog lamps and bridge together.

Personally I don't see the point in fog cut systems. I've never had a working fog cut system on anything I've owned, and I tow an awful lot.