Elan Sprint Electrical Gremlins

[casalunge]

Can anyone please point me in the right direction?.

1/ Last night whilst driving when switching from dipped to main beam whilst the blue dash light activates there is no
change in the lighting - this occurred mid journey - in addition I noticed on arrival home with all lights off and
headlamps retracted the lights were still on illuminating my drive!!

2/ Of longer standing the green dash indicator light is permanently on (when ignition on/engine running) but "winks"
when indicating.

Regards

Colin

[512BB]

Hi Colin,

Your headlamp problem will almost certainly be a poor connection to the lamp relays. Pull off the wires one at a time and clean up the spades with a piece of fine wet and dry. Whilst your at it, might as well do all of them, and also, when you push the wires back on, make sure that they are a nice tight fit. If not, adjust carefully with a pair of pliers.

See if that does the trick, but sometimes the micro switches on the headlamp pods also need a clean up.

Good luck with it, let us know how you get on.

Leslie

[stugilmour]

Sounds like several problems at once Colin. Haven't looked at the Sprint diagram specifically. but a few general comments follow. Where the problems have just developed, I would first be suspecting a failed connection or jammed component(s).

For the green turn signal dash light, I am thinking the flasher relay may be faulty or incorrect. Generally the Lotus flashers have a separate terminal for the dash indicator light. There are several types of three terminal flasher relays; perhaps the incorrect type has been fitted? You mention this problem is of longer standing; has it always been this way for your ownership?

The headlights appear to have two problems at once. Agree with Leslie likely with the relay and headlight microswitch portion of the circuit, and first step is checking/cleaning all the terminals.

Headlights staying on probably caused by the microswitch jamming electrically closed or the relay to microswitch wire grounded out somehow. The relay control circuit ('W" terminals on Lucas relays) is switched to ground by the microswitch; for the lights to stay on this portion of the circuit is seeing ground even with the pods in the down position. Check for ground at the relay terminals with the pods up and down when you are cleaning up the connections as Leslie advises. The wire from the relay to the microswitch should be grounded with pods up only. Jammed microswitch would be consistent with problem developing mid journey with no wiring changes.

Blue dash light coming on when column switch on main beam and off when on dip indicates column switch is likely working OK. Sounds like the main beam relay is not coming on and the dip relay is not turning off, or the other possibility is both relays are staying on at all times, which appears as no change in the lighting. While cleaning the relay terminals, selectively connect the control circuit ('W' terminals) to each relay to try and determine if relay(s) are clicking on and off correctly when supplied with 12v (after fixing the ground problem noted above).

HTH Let us know how you get on with it.