Earth Leads Help

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 12 Apr 2005, 14:18

My drivers side lights do not work, have tried fuse/bulb so am assuming its either a faulty wire or bad earth. Have checked under the batter and cleaned up the earth leads but i have no idea which one it is or even if it resides under the battery, any ideas?

citroenzx · Unread post by **citroenzx** » 12 Apr 2005, 14:31

Get your multimeter out

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 12 Apr 2005, 19:07

i have a multimeter but which lead there's zillions near and on the battery plate?

jeremy · Unread post by **jeremy** » 12 Apr 2005, 22:46

Give us a clue - what model, year, engine, spec . .
Your bulb will have a feed for each filament and an earth. You can start tracing from there and always make a new earth if necessary.
having worked out which is supply and earth you can measure the resistance between the bulb end and the battery - terminal which should be minimal.
jeremy

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 13 Apr 2005, 16:58

^its a M-reg Cit-xantia 1.9 TDS Turbo diesel

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 13 Apr 2005, 17:31

Have a look at the connector on the back of the headlight and the connections inside the headlight itself. My older Xantia had a couple of headlights off and it was a dodgy connection inside the headlight itself.

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 13 Apr 2005, 17:58

^thanks.
this might sound stupid but does the circuit generaly run from just the headlight(s) to the battery?

citroenzx · Unread post by **citroenzx** » 13 Apr 2005, 18:07

it will run through a loom which will eventually arrive at the battery after going through switches, relays and whatever other gubbins

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 13 Apr 2005, 19:00

You might also want to check the fuse for the drivers side lights too. If I read the wiring diagram correctly, if one headlight works (both beams) and the other doesn't, that means switches and relays are OK, and its a wiring / earthing fault.

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 13 Apr 2005, 20:22

^but wouldnt they be on different circuits (the left HL and the right)? Will try again, maybe i checked the wrong fuse.

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 14 Apr 2005, 01:10

The bulb connector itself seems to be the common problem ...

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 14 Apr 2005, 15:42

^but surely that would only affect one of the lights no?

miked · Unread post by **miked** » 14 Apr 2005, 16:34

I think there is confusion here as to which lights do not work.
1. Front or back?
2. By 'Drivers side lights' do you mean all the lights on the drivers side, or your side lights?
3. Headlight, indicater, tail light, fog light etc?
4. Do the passenger side lights work ok, and also if it is the front lights that do not work, what do the tail lights do?

druist · Unread post by **druist** » 14 Apr 2005, 20:17

Drivers side front, main headlights, no side lights on the same side, indicators are fine and all other elecrical systems are fine too.

Kowalski · Unread post by **Kowalski** » 14 Apr 2005, 20:27

Sounds like the plug on the black of the headlight is the most likely suspect.
I had one that was corroded and the copper contacts were covered in a green salt. Scraped off and cleaned up it worked again. I've also have the earth connection inside the headlight corrode and cause trouble too.