Hi all

I've recently acquired an '81 Austin Mini, and I'm having some trouble
sorting out the wiring. I've fixed a few things, but I still have two
problems:

1) The sidelights won't turn off. The headlights come on with the
switch in the lower position, I can get full beam and flash them, but
with the switch at the top (which I assume is off), the sidelights are
still on. They still stay on if I pull the switch out, so I'm guessing
there must be a short to earth somewhere. Any likely places to start
looking? or any suggestions how I should go about tracing it?

2) The indicators works fine if I'm signalling left, but if I'm
signalling right, the right hand indicators just stay on. I've looked
at the wiring diagram and I can't figure out how this is possible!

Many thanks,

Matt

<niceocelot (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

what type of fuse box, how many fuses,
Fitzy

Hi Fitzy

When I got it, it had a fuse box with 4 glass fuses in, but this was
pretty corroded so I replaced it with a blade fuse box. This fixed a
couple of other problems, but the sidelights were still on! Apart from
that, there's a couple of in-line fuses behind the air filter.

Matt

Fitzy wrote:

niceocelot (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
Have a look at your earth wiring - some things may be running through
others to an earth point making them work.

Could be a faulty head-light switch?

Taffy

I thought that at first, but I tried unplugging the switch, and they
stay on. Does that mean the switch is at fault, or a problem elsewhere?

Matt

Taffy wrote:

Matt wrote:
permanent live wire when you put the new fuse box in.

As for the indicators, you may have a bulb gone or a broken wire
somewhere. Have a rummage in the boot and check the indicator live
there, something may have been rolling around and broken a wire or under
the bonnet one might have corroded through .
In my experience, it's usually the nearside indicators that have this
problem, usually down to the n/s/f indicator wire getting sucked into
the alternator fan and that chewing it up !

HTH
Jim