Main beam warning light....

it is not an mot failure

Just had a look here:

As to resolving the fault, that will be difficult to do remotely. If you can't live with it and don't have the skills, a wiring diagram and a suitable multi-meter I would suggest trying to find a local vehicle electrician.

Chris

You sure they haven't been wired up the wrong way around so your "high beam" is actually your dipped lights and vice-versa?

Best news that I've had all day :)

Even better when two people say the same good news :)))

Absolutely positive as the one way working plug that fits in the back of the multi-function switch can only fit one way. There is NO problem with the physical lamps working EXACTLY as they should. The only problem is the blue warning light that insists on coming on when the normal beam headlights are on, and they are on normal beam and not full main beam.

The only thing that I noticed in the past is that on the Micra there is a switch that you can move in one of three positions that physically raises and lowers the beam height, to compensate for large heavy loads in the back I assume...? Well when it was an intermittent problem by flicking that switch up and down would then make the blue light go off. However I have removed the wiring from the switch and still it will be on all the time now. Putting the wires back and moving the switch now makes no difference to the blue light although it will work the adjustment to the height of the beam.

This is the switch that I refer to....

oh hum....!!!!

Chris Whelan ( snipped-for-privacy@prejudicentlworld.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

They're not "town lights" - they're PARKING lights.

Let's put it this way - my cars pass MOTs without a main beam warning light...

Incidentally, what the OP was apparently referring to are actually called "front and rear position lights". It is perfectly legal to drive with just those in use under the conditions outlined in the HWC.

On most vehicles that have a specific function for parking lights, it would not be legal to drive with just those lit.

HTH

Chris

Rewire the warning light from a main beam only supply, it is often quicker to add some wiring than to try and find the original fault.

Mrcheerful

It's perfectly legal under certain conditions, but it damn well shouldn't be, and the OP referring to them as 'town lights' perpetuates the idea that driving on "front and rear position lights" (which yes, is the correct terminology) is a good idea.

But not that many have (IME). I think Adrian is trying to suggest that they're only any good for parking.

Maybe you should buy one at that price and see if it fixes it?

Seconded. The sidelight position on the light switch should be removed IMO. Apart from not being able to easily see the cars with just sidelights on around town, it might cut down on the number of idiots I see on the motorway with only sidelights on. How they don't notice that it's dark and they aren't illuminating the road is beyond me.

Are the headlights working properly, and switching cleanly between high + low beam? If the earth is dodgy at the headlights, it could cause this, but would have to be quite bad a problem to cause this (unless of course the warning light had some electronics driving it, in which case only a couple volts could bring it on). Easy way to test for this is to disconnect both bulbs, and try turning the lights on. If the warning lamp now functions correctly, the fault is a bad earth at either one or both of the headlamps.

If that's not the problem, I'd be considering MrCheerfuls suggestion, but it may not be quite as straight forward as just cutting and adding a new wire, as the japs love using relays and switched earth systems. Which has just reminded me that the above siuggestion may not work quite how I said it would, but try it anyway. It will work, but it'll mean there's a bad connection in the 12V supply to the headlights, instead of a duff earth.

Could be a faulty bulb. Disconnect one headlight bulb at a time and see if this makes a difference.

John

Are the headlights working properly, and switching cleanly between high + low beam? If the earth is dodgy at the headlights, it could cause this, but would have to be quite bad a problem to cause this (unless of course the warning light had some electronics driving it, in which case only a couple volts could bring it on). Easy way to test for this is to disconnect both bulbs, and try turning the lights on. If the warning lamp now functions correctly, the fault is a bad earth at either one or both of the headlamps.

moray

Could be a faulty bulb. Disconnect one headlight bulb at a time and see if this makes a difference.

John

Without the above suggestions I would not have been able to resolve this one....!!!!

I went to look at the headlights and found that the plug on the drivers headlight had half melted and one of the connectors had melted into contact with the one next to it. Unplugging that one resolved the problem. So I stripped down the melted plug and rewired three connectors on it so they would fit on the spade ends of the bulb and the job is sorted, checking out the wiring with a meter showed that they were isolated within the loom so all looks good...!!!!!

Thanks so much for the help from everyone :)

insert big grin

Totally off topic, but I love the web link. We manufactured a product that had these IBM Deskstars in. Oh the returns we had! In the end the company sold the remaining stock (all brand new) to employees for next to nothing. But still most people wouldn' t touch them!

Your comments have been added :)