FiestaStroud

Evening all,

my 88 xr3i failed its mot today because when i indicate, my rear brake lights flash as well as the indicators. Also when i brake my front lights come on as well as my brake lights! What has happened!!!

I only need to get it through its mot as when the summer holidays come ill be throwing a turbo in the beast and have everything i need to do it in my garage but cant do till college over!

Any help will be greatly appreciated, also if anybody lives close to dover, kent it would be handy to know you for when i do the conversion!

mk1turboestate

iTrader: (2)

normally an earth fault, take out the rear lights and clean all the contacts and see how you go

crossy2004

water probly soaking some earth somewere

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

Check the wiring plugs to the rear lights, corrosion in there will cause all sorts of issues!

tabetha

Defo earth problem on the rear light boards, 100% std on any ford with a few years age.
I always run a seperate earth direct from the light board(bulb holder) to earth, as a minimum, then when I have time I always hard solder the boards in, 100% end of problems 100% of the time.
The problem is the pins on the board/bulb holder as std are anodised, although good for corrosion protection it is also a shit conductor of electricity, so soon there is micro arcing between the pins and the terminals of the block connector, this burns off the anodising so you get rust as well.
tabetha

martysmartie

iTrader: (1)

As above certainly an earth problem or rather a poor earth most likely due to corrosion, best bet is to do as said and remount the earth or run another as the current mounting point is most likely corroded to make good a good connection again.

Martin

1968unclefester

always had to replace the plugs , used speaker size crimp terms , then smotherd with white grease

turboRS

You should still be able to get a wiring connector repair kit from
Ford and new bulb holders.
As mentioned above, smother the terminals with grease!!
Also you might want to replace or re-seal the seals on the rear lamps to prevent it from happening again!!

tabetha

New connectors are easy to get, as not peculiar to fords, they are used on many cars, inc the good old reliant robin, or del boys reliant regal!!
The same problem, due to shit design, will crop up again after a while, when I rewire these I dremel off the anodise coating from the pins both sides, then flux the terminals before soldering the pre tinned light wire in their respective positions, take about 2 hours tops.
I also do my brake/fog light mod at same time, for around 10 pence this lights the(rear) fogs with the brake lights, but the fogs still work on their own when switched on without affecting the brake lights, simply using a diode or two, I use 1N5408 rectifier diodes, done this on all my/dads cars it passes the MOT, and is LEGAL, where the fogs and brakes are on the same level as in mk3 escorts etc.
tabetha

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

+1 on rear light connectors. Our sierra ones managed to corrode together. Meaning no dipped or main beam, only sidelights, and no brake lights!

FiestaStroud

thanks for the advice everyone! ill get down to that this week and let you know how it goes!

then whens it passed its turbo time!

chaffe

You will manage to sort this no problem if you have the skills and knowledge to turbo convert it