r-ewiring my car thread

[bryn]

hi all,

i have just purchased a new loom for my '72 +2s130. (however i have had to send the dash and engine looms back as i had purchased the wrong one, now awaiting the replacement).
i thought i'd start a new thread on this subje t as i am sure i will have loads of queries and it will keep them in one place. the project is going to be more interesting as a previous owners has spliced and diced the loom all over the place!!!

new then, i have a rear loom that i have accounted for the wires apart from:

question 1) there are 2 off 1/8" spade connector terminals on each side of the lower rear screen area (so 4 of these in total, all with black and white wires). any ideas what these should be for? the car currently has these chopped off!!

question 2) the boot light doesn't seem to have any wires for it and there is no door switch pin for it either. where shouldthe positive feed come from and where should a switch go?

thanks, and bye for now,

bryn.

[innesw]

Hi Bryn,

I have just removed the wiring looms from my 1973 +2S 130/5 and my car has also had slight "modifications" by P/Os to the loom. All the wires are colour coded with a main colour and a trace colour. On my car the heated rear screen was white main with a black trace but there is only one of these and an earth for the other side of the screen.
Are there any modifications to the rear parcel tray for speakers? A P/O added extra loose cables in the case on my car.

Luckily for me most things were still connected up so I took photo's and labeled everything up in situ but still a few things had already been disconected and removed before me, I have 4 wires (2 brown, 2 blue) in opposite colour pairs which all have lucas bullet connectors in the same area as you (lower r/screen) that I have not identified.

Where is your boot lamp? I'm missing this but have the boot lid switch which is mounted top drivers side of the boot opening on the metal strut that bolts to both wheel arches.

I found this website handy but obviously its not 100% for the plus 2 http://www.steveww.org/lotus/page38.html

Regards
Innes

[bryn]

thanks for that innes,

so that clears the heated screen wire up, and the unidentified wires will indeed be for non existent speakers, so that is these accounted for.

i can't help with your unidentified wires either i'm afraid. i don't thave these on either of my looms. the only purple ones are for the interior lights above the driver and passengers heads.

my boot lamp is between the hinges although not wired up. and i have now found the switch after following your description

thanks again,
bryn

[bryn]

well i have put the tail loom in and all seems in order

now, i have partially removed the dash to get to the dsh loom, however the one thing stopping the whole thing coming out is the bonnet release puller. how the hell do i get it off? am i being dumb or is there a special technique to it?


one more thing that confuses me though are the interior lights, there are only two wires going to them, a + and a - i am assuming. is the + switched off the door pins or is it a permenantly live feed and switched to + by the switch on the light itself? it can't be both can it??

the lotus lark is good fun eh?

thanks again,
bryn

[gerrym]

Bryn, hi.

The interior lights are one of the few circuits (horn is another I think) that switches on the earth side. Normally the two plunger switches on the door (at waist height by the hinges) complete the earthg circuit.

For the S130, the two lights above the doors also have in built switches. These can only be used to switch off each light. If you want to turn the lights on without opening the doors, there's another switch on the dashboard for this purpose.

Regards
Gerry

[stugilmour]

Bryn, hi.

The interior lights are one of the few circuits (horn is another I think) that switches on the earth side. Normally the two plunger switches on the door (at waist height by the hinges) complete the earthg circuit.

For the S130, the two lights above the doors also have in built switches. These can only be used to switch off each light. If you want to turn the lights on without opening the doors, there's another switch on the dashboard for this purpose.

Regards
Gerry

Bryn, would also add to Gerry's explanation above that the dash switch also switches to ground using the purple/white loop, and therefore lights all three lamps. Think of the purple/white being grounded at any of the the door switches or the dash switch to light the lamps. With all three switches electrically open (doors shut), the purple/white loop is not electrically connected to anything except the three lamps & three switches.

As my car is the earlier version, I don't have the switches on the rear lamps. Rather, I have an extra ground to the front roof lamp that connects to the mounting screw with a black wire. The integral switch in the front lamp housing grounds to the mounting screw, turning on only this lamp with the doors shut. Might be something to check for or consider.

For my bonnet release cable, mine was on a bracket below the dash that could either be bent open or removed with two self tappers. Does your's go through the dash or through a more complicated lower trim piece? If so, it may have to be removed at the other end in the engine compartment? I do know on mine the knob did not appear to be removable from the cable. Maybe get better advise on this part, but HTH.

[Robbie693]

To get my Dash out I disconnected the nipple on the end of the bonnet release cable at the far end (after it's gone through the catches). The nipple on the cable is actually on the inside of the car in the passenger footwell.

Then just pull the inner cable through the outer and out of the dash.

Cheers

Robbie

[spyzee]

On mine it was screwed into the back of the dash with 2 self tappers. Just had to feel about a bit - real fiddle to put it back though.

[bryn]

thanks guys,

the bonnet cable is indeed retracted by undoing the nipple at the far end. it'll be fun getting it back through as it is a lttle frayed at the end. i'll cross that bridge when i come to it but at least the dash is now out. it's like a plate of spagetti behind there

i think i now understand how the interior lighting system works thankyou. i have wiring for the under bonnet lights on the same purple and purple/white circuit as per the lights above the doors on the main loom. there is no pin under the bonnet to turn these lights on (the lights are by the brake servo and by the brake master cylinder on opposite sides of the car), or are these operated by the panel switch only. if there should be a switch, where should it be, please?

i didn't realise how many unused/redundant wires there are, should this be the case or not?

i'm going to re-carpet and underlay the car while i'm at it too.

thanks again and see you tomorrow or tuesday night for another update and more questions.

[stugilmour]

thanks guys,


i think i now understand how the interior lighting system works thankyou. i have wiring for the under bonnet lights on the same purple and purple/white circuit as per the lights above the doors on the main loom. there is no pin under the bonnet to turn these lights on (the lights are by the brake servo and by the brake master cylinder on opposite sides of the car), or are these operated by the panel switch only. if there should be a switch, where should it be, please?

i didn't realise how many unused/redundant wires there are, should this be the case or not?

Hi Bryn.

My car does not have the under bonnet lamp feature. However, taking a quick look at the Plus 2S Non-Federal diagram, it appears it is indeed switched to ground using purple - white. However, this is not connected to the purple - white loop for the interior lamps, it is a separate circuit. As to physical location of the switch, sorry no help on that one. If you cannot locate the switch, might want to just install a simple on-off switch in a convenient location to avoid the hassle of adjusting a button switch. The boot lamp also appears to use purple - white in the same fashion; i.e. it is separate from the interior lights.

If your car has the puddle lights or door warning lights, looks like these need a separate door switch and they are wired using purple - red to ground. This makes sense, as otherwise the dash switch would put the warning lamps on.

As for redundant wires, I suppose it depends on the guy who made up your loom, and which of the ten or so Plus 2 diagrams he used as a go-by and the number of features he has included.

HTH

[bryn]

thanks stu, think i'm getting there now so what exactly should the panel switch do?

cheers,
bryn

[p.faurie]

HI BRYN, I BELIEVE THE UNDER BONNET LAMPS ARE SWITCHED BY A SIMPLE SWITCH FITTED TO THE O/S/F OF THE BONNET ON THE LEADING EDGE,THE PIN OF WHICH RESTS AGAINST THE FLANGE OF THE FRONT PANEL WHEN THE BONNET IS SHUT
REGARDS PHIL

[Robbie693]

thanks stu, think i'm getting there now so what exactly should the panel switch do?

cheers,
bryn

Panel switch goes from Instrument lights off - instruments lights on - interior lights on

Cheers

Robbie

[stugilmour]

thanks stu, think i'm getting there now so what exactly should the panel switch do?

cheers,
bryn

Panel switch goes from Instrument lights off - instruments lights on - interior lights on

Cheers

Robbie

Gerry posted a nice description of all the switch terminals here that might help with the details:

elan-plus-f13/dashboard-switches-s130-rewiring-info-t21224.html

Note the third position of the panel switch puts the interior lights on by grounding the purple/white loop. The second position of the switch puts the panel instrument lights on; they are powered by a red wire from the park lamp circuit so they only come on when the park lights are on and the panel switch is in either position 2 or position 3. As Robbie says above, when the panel switch is in the first position, both the panel lights and the interior lights are off, unless of course the door is open.

The park lights are activated either by the park light intermittent switch being punched to the on position and returning to it's centre position or by pulling on the headlamp switch. This part is a bit of a puzzle with the flat intermittent park light switch, and utilizes a relay located on the side of the heater box. Let me know if you need details; I posted a diagram here a while back as it took me a lot of head scratching to get that one figured out!

elan-plus-f13/side-lights-t17589.html

HTH

[Robbie693]

Much more comprehensive answer than mine Stu, I can only say I was pressed for time!

The parking light switch you mention, I've never seen one of these. Perhaps it's a Federal distinction? Have you a photo?

Unless you are referring to the Side lights, in which case they are activated by turning the main light switch, before pulling for the head lights - at least on the domestic failsafe models. Is this the same for the federal models?

Sorry if this is deviating - I'm just curious about the federal/domestic differences!

Cheers

Robbie