SaintPanzer
Well-known member
Of course, my primary interest is keeping the smoke in.
Two minor items have come up on my '98 UK spec Defender 90.
The first concerns the rear wiper. I've puled the switch panel a couple of times to install the heated seat switches. After the last in/out, I noticed the wiper no longer does its thing when I hit the switch.
The washer part of the switch does work. It's just that the wiper doesn't move when I turn it on.
Before I buy a new switch, is there a way to test the old? I do have power going in to the switch, I just can't tell if I have power going out. How does one "properly" test the switch.
Checking power to the switch, I noticed a related problem. There's about a one volt drop between the battery and power heading to all of the "ignition on" feeds (radio, cigar lighter, etc.). My first thought is "resistance". My second thought is where things go a bit sideways. Perhaps sideways isn't the right way to describe it. More like "here is what it normally is on other cars I've played with... it must be the same here, right? Maybe not right. I'd better ask.
On other cars I've played with (911, XJS), such a drop is normally a symptom of a bad ignition switch. Over time, all the electric loads through the switch "wear" (normally, a build up of tarnish, arcing, other nastiness) simply adds resistance to the line, and because V=I*R, as I stays the same and R goes up, V goes down. This is usually fixed by installing a new switch. Some cars have an ignition switch in two parts: The "key" part which is purely mechanical, and the "electric" part which is where the electricery makes it's connections. On these you must replace only the electric part, which saves the need to re-key or at least the need to match the switch to the key you have. So this leads to two questions:
Does this sound like an ignition switch issue, or should I look for resistance elsewhere?
If it is a switch issues, recommended part number?
Thanks in advance! I am by no means an electrical genius, but I'd like to figure this out. My next project involves relays for the headlights and foglights, but I'd like to get this figured out before I put the big bulbs in!
Two minor items have come up on my '98 UK spec Defender 90.
The first concerns the rear wiper. I've puled the switch panel a couple of times to install the heated seat switches. After the last in/out, I noticed the wiper no longer does its thing when I hit the switch.
The washer part of the switch does work. It's just that the wiper doesn't move when I turn it on.
Before I buy a new switch, is there a way to test the old? I do have power going in to the switch, I just can't tell if I have power going out. How does one "properly" test the switch.
Checking power to the switch, I noticed a related problem. There's about a one volt drop between the battery and power heading to all of the "ignition on" feeds (radio, cigar lighter, etc.). My first thought is "resistance". My second thought is where things go a bit sideways. Perhaps sideways isn't the right way to describe it. More like "here is what it normally is on other cars I've played with... it must be the same here, right? Maybe not right. I'd better ask.
On other cars I've played with (911, XJS), such a drop is normally a symptom of a bad ignition switch. Over time, all the electric loads through the switch "wear" (normally, a build up of tarnish, arcing, other nastiness) simply adds resistance to the line, and because V=I*R, as I stays the same and R goes up, V goes down. This is usually fixed by installing a new switch. Some cars have an ignition switch in two parts: The "key" part which is purely mechanical, and the "electric" part which is where the electricery makes it's connections. On these you must replace only the electric part, which saves the need to re-key or at least the need to match the switch to the key you have. So this leads to two questions:
Does this sound like an ignition switch issue, or should I look for resistance elsewhere?
If it is a switch issues, recommended part number?
Thanks in advance! I am by no means an electrical genius, but I'd like to figure this out. My next project involves relays for the headlights and foglights, but I'd like to get this figured out before I put the big bulbs in!