Headlight problem, cancel MOT!!

[fram]

Went out to check the Headlights last night just as it was getting dark and found a problem.......
Nearside light is fine, side, dipped and main beam all good. Offside the side light is noticable dimmer, so is the dipped, then when we put on full beam, we only the nearside comes on, when we return to dipped the offside dipped beam stops working as well, all the bulbs are new as well.

Any ideas?
It's a 1992 200tdi, so as far as I know there are no relays to bother about.
Have had a look at the wiring which all seems ok.

Got about 90mins to fix it or will have to cancel MOT

[Richie_EB4]

Bad conection on the bulb plug...........there are fuses under the steering coloum........not sure if there fused each side.

Hope you get her sorted

[fram]

Had a look at the fuses, yes there is a fuse for each light, but they are all good. Taken the light out and had a good tug on all the connectors and they are solid. The only thing I did find is the bulb itself is a bit loose in the back of the light, could this cause a problem?

[Richie_EB4]

Dont think so.............this is not a permanant fix..........but run a wire from the one that works accross to the other and try that..........you may have a broken wire in the loom somewhere.

[Damonski]

Check for a bad earth not allowing enough juice to that "dimmer" side.

[fram]

Thanks for the replies, I will get out there and check the earth and every wire for bad insulation etc, see if I can find the problem, I cannot get hold of a multimeter until the weekend so I hope its something simple like a bad earth.
Fram

[Wanderer]

Connect a new earth wire to a good earth point and you'll cure it in 99% of cases. The otheres are a bad connection on the live side but as it affects all of that side's lights then the earth is the common one.

You can do this bit without the multimeter.

Ed

[fram]

Any idea which of the 3 wires that come off the back of the headlight is the earth we have 3 wires coming from the back of the bulb connector, yellow red and blue, but these colours, knowing Land Rover wiring, could vary, so it would possibly be easier to say what possition it is in.
Also, there is an earth connected to the battery earth, bolted to the body work behind the battery, this also seems to join into the lighting loom, could this be the earth in question?

[Disco Inferno]

have a really good check of the crappy thing they call a plug on the back of the bulb, the wires get corroded and cause all kinds of problems

[fram]

Well guys,
                I went out this morning and changed both earths on the headlights, near and off side for heavy duty ones and this has solved the problems...we think.
Wont be really sure until it gets a bit darker. Does anyone know how to align headlights, or is it a garage job?
thanks for all the help
Fram

[hobbit]

If you are friendly with the mot tester, he may do it for you on the test, make sure the adjusters are free and can move ok before you take it in though

[fram]

Well we passed, just had a caution about the front brake pipes, the only ones that arent copper, so was going to replace them anyway.
Thanks for all your help
Fram