Looking to try and solve a c*ck up made by a garage. Do Vauxhall/GM/Opel have a standard colour coding for their wiring or does it vary per model/year?
Can you tell the function of a wire from the colour, for instance, I have green/black, blue/red, black/yellow, yellow, brown and thick red wires in the headlamp circuit on a circa 98 car.
I am pretty sure I know what they should do and how they should be wired but some confirmation would be nice before I start making changes.
It's an interesting point. There is (was) a British standard for cable colours and what was used for what - BS AU7 - but I've never seen a DIN one or whatever published.
Ahh, the nice things about standards is that there are so many to choose from.
Well, I think I've worked out what's wrong anyway, the headlights on this car (Vauxhall Sintra) have always been 'slow' and not as bright as I'd expect them to be plus the battery drain was *very* high (350mA) even with the ignition and all lights off which drains the battery over about a week.
At some point in the past it would appear that a pair of relays that control the headlights have been replaced.
Unfortunately the y don't appear to have realised (and neither did I until yesterday) that there is more than one contact layout for a 'standard' automotive 30/40 amp relay which led to them fitting the wrong type.
Because of this the relays are permanently energised and the headlight switch passes all the current for the headlights so they're dim and slow to turn on.
As an aside, if anyone has a workshop manual that covers the Sintra properly with wiring diagrams etc. or can link to one I'd be grateful (and the ones on eBay don't have the Sintra covered well enough)
Clint Sharp gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
That's going to make life even more interesting, then, since the Sinatra's basically a re-badged Pontiac, and built in the US, so may very well follow GM US norms rather than GM Europe norms. If any such exist...
Yeah, plenty of odd things with it, even down to the battery! It's not a bad bus though and for what it cost me I can afford to put some time and cash into it. It's only really used in summertime for holidays and days out, loaded up with 'day out' stuff and left on the drive so we can go at a moment's notice of sunshine ;-)
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