Defender headlight switch failures

[Exteme5]

Just had my Defender headlight switch fail on the way home the other nite.
Lucky it was not fully dark at the time, as all lights go out!!! - done that once before in the total dark & roo country

The plastic base that the metal contacts are riveted through goes soft, allowing the contact to retreat and not work any more, all lights go out!
Am running standard wattage globes, so they should be fine, driving lights are through a relay, powered from battery direct.

Was wondering is this a common failure?
What mods can be done to cure this problem?

[uninformed]

my switch melted on my 98 110 after being on for about an hour....

hella make a switch thats about $30....alot cheaper than the 247 that LR wanted...

as far as i know def's don't have relays and this is why the switches get so hot they melt.

cheers, serg

[ISUZUROVER]

Very common failure, especially if you use high beam a lot. Almost it happen on my 110 (changed it just in time and fitted relays) and plenty of mates 110s and rangies as well.

The problem is all the current goes through the switch (no relays). On my 110 there were 4 (factory) fuses for the headlights (High Beam left, HB right, Low Beam left and LR right!!!). My 110 has hella headlights, and the extra current melted one of the fuse holders.

If you pull the fuse box cover, there is just enough room in there to squeeze in two relays (one for high beam and one for low beam). I ran power to the relays through seperate fuses, and spliced the two wires per side into one for high beam and one for low beam.

[Bundalene]

I have had this happen to my TD5 Defender a few years ago. This is a design problem within the switch where the current for the lights passes from the incoming joint thru a juntion and on to another part of the switch. The simlpe fix is to solder a loop around this junction and problem is solved. Buying a new switch is only a tempory fix as the same will happen again.

[mattD110td5x]

I have had this happen to my TD5 Defender a few years ago...

One more here, in the way back from the Vic ski fields,
4am, moonless light, 110kmh, 20km south of Albury/Wadonga


As my arms flailed around the cabin, I found that if I pulled on
the highbeam "flasher" there was light. (no damage except for
a new pair of pants).

This was just before the end of the waranty and LR replaced the switch
_and_ fitted a relay. The Oz ones are even more of a problem
because the standard LRA bullbar includes an extra 2x22w bulbs
as parkers.

ttfn
Matthew

[Exteme5]

As my arms flailed around the cabin, I found that if I pulled on
the highbeam "flasher" there was light. (no damage except for
a new pair of pants).

ttfn
Matthew

Yep, first time it happened to us, was dark, no moon, roo's, trees.
Did say 'WTF' very loudly, then did the high beam flasher trick...
...made for a interesting trip home, holding high beam flasher,
and turning off driving lights with its own switch when traffic came other way!!!

Did temp fix of switch first time by re-riveting post and trim molten plastic,
but this time was melted in a different spot,
so just cut switch off and soldered 3 wires together.

Have fitted new switch now(bought previously, but left at home... doh)
Will look into fitting relays soon.
Need to check fuse box, mine has relays for A/C in there I think?

[Matt N]

I have had this happen to my TD5 Defender a few years ago. This is a design problem within the switch where the current for the lights passes from the incoming joint thru a juntion and on to another part of the switch. The simlpe fix is to solder a loop around this junction and problem is solved. Buying a new switch is only a tempory fix as the same will happen again.

That's how mine's fixed. Happened a couple of weeks ago. Had to pull the swag out and sleep by the side of the road.

[Chris F20 maniac]

yep that looks like the lighting switch in my rangie too.

i managed to fix the switch easily enough but now the problem is on the back of the ignition barrel, same thing with one of the rivets through the plastic backing being loose because of the heat it generates when the lights are on.

i think it has also effected some of the other wires as the car just plain stalled and the ignition light came on while i was in traffic driving it to a roadworthy test this morning not cool at all, luckily was able to roll it clear of the intersection and wait for a bit then get the old girl running again. still not exactly sure what caused this to happen but im gona be doin some serious investigating!

does anyone know if it is possible to get a new back for the ignition barrel? or can you get a whole new one or something cause this whole dicky connection thing is driving me nuts and im sure that if i pull the ignition barrel apart its only gona make things worse.

cheers

[mattD110td5x]

Another Defender switch to melting experience to watch out for?
I found out the hard way that the hazzard lights switch can melt an internal
nylon slide so that the plastic bits get stuck in the melted hole
and you can't turn the hazards off without destroying the switch.

This is also quite an expensive part to replace

Maybe it was my fault as the trailer I was towing could have had a
short but I would have expected (hoped?) that the fuse would blow
long before the switch melted.

ttfn
Matthew

[Chris F20 maniac]

yeah there aint many fuses in the old rovers, i found that your more likely to blow a globe or a switch in your case when there is a short rather than the fuse sometimes.

[closet1092004]

does anyone know if it is possible to get a new back for the ignition barrel? or can you get a whole new one or something cause this whole dicky connection thing is driving me nuts and im sure that if i pull the ignition barrel apart its only gona make things worse.

cheers[/quote]

The back just wears out and leaves you standed - I had mine held together with zip ties for about a week till I got the part. You can get a new barrel from the stealership but they want about $500!!

I hunted around the wreckers and got one out of a relatively low k rangie for $50 - easy to fit if you can get the freaking steering wheel off.. And a hell of a lot easier than trying to undo the jam nuts holding the front to the column - just be aware that the little screw on the side holds both bits together - took me a while to figure that out..

John

[cameron]

Yep I have had the light switch go a couple of times, blinker switch, hazard switch (x2).

All ridiculously expensive to replace.

Have been able to patch up the light switch a couple of times with some extra solder and a bit of cutting out of surplus melted plastic (and added relays like other have stated).

The hazard switch is a real bugger too as it is really expensive and it seems like landrover ran just about every light through it as well so when it goes you are in trouble.

Had the blinker switch replaced once and landrover sent the wrong model part across to the repair shop. "Shite!" says I when told but then the mechanic piped up that it was good news as it was actually a MUCH cheaper replacement part and they were able to canibalise the old and the new into a fully functioning and mainly new one that works perfectly. "You have to get a win sometimes" he said and I certainly had to agree!

Cheers,
Cameron