hi all

help required please. i have a 53 plated octi estate l&k version. just brought it and the interior boot lights dont work. i had them apart yesterday and there is live feed to both units. i thought bulbs had gone and replaced but still no light. when bulb in place its making a circuit (live to both sides of the bulb holder but the bulbs does'nt light. i dont have a very good brain where electrics are concerned and this makes no sense to me at all. can anybody shed some light lol on this for me.

any advice much appreciated

cheers

rob

hi all

help required please. i have a 53 plated octi estate l&k version. just brought it and the interior boot lights dont work. i had them apart yesterday and there is live feed to both units. i thought bulbs had gone and replaced but still no light. when bulb in place its making a circuit (live to both sides of the bulb holder but the bulbs does'nt light. i dont have a very good brain where electrics are concerned and this makes no sense to me at all. can anybody shed some light lol on this for me.

any advice much appreciated

cheers

rob

If the bulb is live on both sides of the bulb holder, then you have a broken earth wire or a bad switch.

If you take a wire from earth to the brown/black connection on the bulb holder, do you get light?

(if you don't then there could be a fault on the lighting amplifier)

If you short out the switch, do you get light?

(if so bad switch)

If you take a wire from earth to the brown connection on the switch, do you get light?

(if so bad wire from switch to ground. if not wire between switch and bulb holder)

I am right in thinking, that for some (strange?) reason the boot lights are earth switched and have a perm +12v supply to them?

I am right in thinking, that for some (strange?) reason the boot lights are earth switched and have a perm +12v supply to them?

The +12 comes from the lighting amplifier - a module on the relay plate.

I am right in thinking, that for some (strange?) reason the boot lights are earth switched and have a perm +12v supply to them?

Boot lights and door operated lights have nearly all been earth switch operated, after over 40 years as a Motor Vehicle Technician I can't think off hand any makes that were not.

thanks for replys.

if the buld is in situ i have live at both sides. when i take bulb out i have live at only one side, cant remember which im at work so cant check. the bulb is compleating the circuit i think.

so if i run a direct earth to non live side(when bulb is out)and then buld lights then its the switch, is that correct???. and where is switch located as i cant see a pin swithc any where or is a built in somewhere. i did try engaging the lock mech while the boot was open but that didnt change anything.

cheers again

rob

and how do i short out switch lol sorry did say im a bit stupid when it come to electrics

cheers

I'd pull back the carpet on the left hand side of the boot and check the multiplugs for the tailgate wiring for water ingress and corrosion from the rear washer pipe first.

I'd pull back the carpet on the left hand side of the boot and check the multiplugs for the tailgate wiring for water ingress and corrosion from the rear washer pipe first.

ok cool will have a look when i get home tomorrow cheers

First place to look would be the boot contactors for sure.

Edited 11 September, 201114 yr by demonufo

had a quick look at conectors and all look clean n dry so still as confused as i was lol

ok i have run a direct earth from brown/black wire and get light, so what does this mean. what is probably broken???

cheers

rob

does the boot warning light come up on the dash when you open the boot?

ok i have run a direct earth from brown/black wire and get light, so what does this mean. what is probably broken???

cheers

rob

If you connected to the brown/black wire at the bulb holder, then it shows the lighting amplifier is OK.

The switch is located in the tailgate where the latch is and where the brown/black wire goes to.

If you connect your earth wire to the brown/black wire at the switch and you get light, then the brown/black wire is good.

If you short out the switch (brown/black to brown) and the bulb lights, then the switch is bad. If not then the brown wire from the switch to earth is bad.

no light on dash to say boot is open. earth to black/brown lights bulbs. i presume that the switch is behind the boot lid facia and i need to remove to get at it. i will try that tomorrow and try earthing and shorting the switch. i presume if the swith is bad the whole boot lock would have to be replaced?

cheers for all the help

rob

does the boot warning light come up on the dash when you open the boot?

When were these introduced (the warning light, not the boot)? My 2001 doesn't have such a feature :'(

Hi, I had a similar problem with my boot lights turning on then off again when the tailgait was fully up, it was all due to the **** poor tailgate lock.

After a while the contacts in the lock wear and the internal moving contact that makes the circuit for the boot lights slides past the end of the fixed slider and hey presto no lights.

At a guess you have the orange boot lock, I have heard of someone fitting a later black boot lock that doesn't have this inbuit 'feature'.

Hope this helps

Steve

ok had boot facia off today. have live at the bulb holder on both red/blue and brown/black wires. ran earth from brown/black at switch to earth and no lighs. shorted switch brown to brown/black no light. direct earth from brown/black at bulb holder lights the bulb.

does tis make sense to anyone? lol

to me it says that switch is proberly still good and its an earth problem somewhere does this sound right, and any ideas to where to start looking for bad earth?

cheers all i no im being a pain but its really bugging me that i cant get the lights to work

If you don't get light when you connect the brown/black wire at the switch to earth, then the wire between switch and bulb holder is faulty.

Double check the connector as Techie described in post #8. The brown/black wire passes though two connectors (IIRC, they are both pink) between the switch and bulb holder.

Try disconnecting and reconnecting the plugs. Don't be afraid to give the wires a gentle tug. If they come away from the connector, then they were already broken.

Someone mentioned above that the interior lights are earth switched then as yur earthing the lights they should come on.

The switch to activate the lights is built into the lock mechanism from what i understand (i need to do mine so read up on it on here) so the switch when triggered will be your earth.

I would have suggested that the only solution is to take the lock out and see how the switch earths and try to find the faulty part in there.

By the bulb lighting when you send it to earth it shows there is no fault in the wiring and you need to look at the earthing point which is inside the lock

Hope this helps

Regards Dave

let there be light hurray.

broken wire on pink conector under cd changer, bypassed conector and hey presto lights when there sould be.

thanks to all for help and advice.