Headlights

[Bonymaenjack]

Good morning,can any one help me the rear tail lights are working both sides of the car but the front are not ,the lamps are fitted with brand new bulbs .Ive removed the connectors from both sides and tried a continuity test but with no power showing ,could it be relay ?
Thanks

[Satan]

Where they working before you fitted the brand new bulbs also try wiggling the light switch as the contacts can corrode.

Relay wise Brianmoooore is the man on knowledge so hopefully he will see your thread and advise in due course.

[Bonymaenjack]

Where they working before you fitted the brand new bulbs also try wiggling the light switch as the contacts can corrode.

Relay wise Brianmoooore is the man on knowledge so hopefully he will see your thread and advise in due course.

I'm not sure , the car's been stood for 11 years but everything worked before going into storage , I thought I'd tidy up the front with new lights , I believe the off side worked two weeks ago but I wasn't really paying much attention then as it was a cursory check at what needed doing to put her back on the road.

[Brianmoooore]

The problem is that both front sidelights don't work, but both tail lights, the number plate lights and the dash/instrument panel illumination lights all do?
No relay involved with any of these, and wired completely separately all the way from the IN side of the lighting switch.
What model and age of E30? There are minor variations in the wiring over the years.
Assuming a facelift car, there is a known issue with the short leads that go from the sockets mounted on the headlamp frame to the actual lamps.

[Bonymaenjack]

The problem is that both front sidelights don't work, but both tail lights, the number plate lights and the dash/instrument panel illumination lights all do?
No relay involved with any of these, and wired completely separately all the way from the IN side of the lighting switch.
What model and age of E30? There are minor variations in the wiring over the years.
Assuming a facelift car, there is a known issue with the short leads that go from the sockets mounted on the headlamp frame to the actual lamps.

hi Brian , its a 89 face light , I've stripped back the now decaying Tessa tape looking for any thing obvious . There's a few right angle connectors which look worse for age but no obvious breaks around the sockets and I'll replace the fuses as a matter of course but it can't be those as the tails lights are working , is there one central earth point for the front lights or are they individually earthed ? the weathers against me today so I'll try again tomorrow . Thanks

[Satan]

Most earths go to a point under the glove box, check to see if the fuses are all okay.

[Brianmoooore]

Earthing points for all the front lights and other non engine related electrics at the front of the car is a stud on the front of the LH inner wing.
The potentially faulty cable I wrote about is the actual lamp holder assembly, which is the lamp holder, a few inches of cable, and a socket which clips into the plastic headlamp back plate. You won't see anything wrong with it externally.
Get a 12 volt bulb with a couple of wires attached to it (my favourite is a front wing indicator repeater bulb with the plug cut off), pull the plug off of the socket mentioned above, turn the lights on, and connect your bulb across the two pins in the plug. If it doesn't light, move the wire on your light from the pin on the brown wire to a good body earth and see if it lights.

[Bonymaenjack]

Earthing points for all the front lights and other non engine related electrics at the front of the car is a stud on the front of the LH inner wing.
The potentially faulty cable I wrote about is the actual lamp holder assembly, which is the lamp holder, a few inches of cable, and a socket which clips into the plastic headlamp back plate. You won't see anything wrong with it externally.
Get a 12 volt bulb with a couple of wires attached to it (my favourite is a front wing indicator repeater bulb with the plug cut off), pull the plug off of the socket mentioned above, turn the lights on, and connect your bulb across the two pins in the plug. If it doesn't light, move the wire on your light from the pin on the brown wire to a good body earth and see if it lights.

r
Thanks both ,now sorted ,I cleaned up all the Earth points in and around the engine Bay Area including the inner wings and everything works as it should.