 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Wiring issues on my 1989 Defender |
 
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| trickster5000 Member Since: 12 Dec 2015 Location: East Yorkshire Posts: 502   
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Older defenders are notorious for having nests of dodgy wires, sounds like yours is no exception! Sometimes if you can identify a non-standard clump of wires separate from factory looms, it is easier to carefully take the whole lot out and start again.
Otherwise, work through the mess with a digital multimeter, finding out what wire does what (ie: ign live, permanent live etc) and then try to match that up with whatever the radio/spot lights require (might be letters/a diagram on the radio), replacing dodgy connectors as you go. Plenty of reference photos before you start is always a good idea too. Good luck!  Matt.
'89 90 CSW with a 3.5 V8 conversion (WIP) - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic46809.html |
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7th May 2017 3:55pm |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5111  
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If you know what you are doing then a wiring upgrade is fine, if you do not then I would not recommend it. Make a mistake and it can be costly, you would not believe how quickly electrical wiring fires can start.
My recommendation is obviously disconnect the battery before replacing any wiring and make sure every wire you replace is fused by the correct rating. If you work methodically and have the right crimping tool and crimp connectors and know how to use a soldering iron then replacing wiring is quite easy. Often just tracing the wires and putting new connectors on is all that is needed as early Land Rovers used those horrible bullet connectors that work loose or corrode. If you have a fuse panel that has the glass fuse types it may be worth replacing that with the newer blade fuse type, or get a good electrical contact cleaning spray and give the glass fuse holders a good clean. Google is your friend for wiring diagrams for a Land Rover that will show the colour codes of the wiring and what they feed. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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7th May 2017 5:13pm |
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| sako243 Member Since: 08 Jul 2014 Location: Wales Posts: 1222 
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Have a go yourself, be much more satisfying when it does work. Vehicle wiring isn't all that difficult, slodering at this scale is also pretty easy (even a slob could do it
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All you really need, particularly on that age of vehicle is a multimeter and some patience. Both are cheap 
At least you don't have to worry about things like how well the solder joint is formed (down to the um level) because it's the difference between the system working and not working. Ed 82 Hotspur Sandringham 6x6 95 Defender 110 300Tdi |
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7th May 2017 7:37pm |
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| JamesF Member Since: 10 Nov 2016 Location: Hitchin Posts: 71 
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Just an update and a thanks to those who offered advice.
Got someone in to sort out most of the woes. All seems fine now except one more gremlin. So thanks again |
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22nd May 2017 10:35am |
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