Dashbaord wiring on an Early Elan +2

[Iyarno]

Right, I've been doing a spot of rewiring over the weekend and trying to get everything working as it should do, and located in the original place. Some things are resolved, but somethings are still not so clear. This is where I need your help.

What's the general consensus on these electrical issues...?

On an early Elan +2 (1968) what should the left toggle switch be used for on the dash, next to the amp gauge? Mine has purple and white wires coming from it which, according to the manual suggests something to do with interior lights?

What is the correct order of the 4 toggle switches on the dash. I have 'unknown', 'heater' (2 speeds), 'lights' (side and main), 'reverse lights'.

Should my car have a handbrake warning light? I have a small orange light between the Speedo and Tacho, which was bodged to the rear window hear switch on the steering column. Should this be a light for the handbrake or rear window heater? I see you can get Lucas style push switches with lights built into them, so it seems to make sense to use this for the handbrake?

I have 2 micro-switches built into the NS headlight pod. The main beam switch works ok, and turns the lights off when down. However the other one, which I figure should operate the 'flasher' is cut short. I guess this has been disabled, but there are still wires running to it. Any ideas how where and how to start trouble shooting this? Should the blue light on the Tacho light up when you 'flash' - or is this only for the permanent full beam setting?

Sorry about all this questions. At least I have it back in one piece for now, and looking forward to Donington this weekend. Anyone else on here going???

Ian

[Higs]

On an early Elan +2 (1968) what should the left toggle switch be used for on the dash, next to the amp gauge? Mine has purple and white wires coming from it which, according to the manual suggests something to do with interior lights?

Correct - interior lights

What is the correct order of the 4 toggle switches on the dash. I have 'unknown', 'heater' (2 speeds), 'lights' (side and main), 'reverse lights'.

Interior lights; heater; lights; panel lights

Should my car have a handbrake warning light? I have a small orange light between the Speedo and Tacho, which was bodged to the rear window hear switch on the steering column. Should this be a light for the handbrake or rear window heater? I see you can get Lucas style push switches with lights built into them, so it seems to make sense to use this for the handbrake?

Yes, yellow light between the speedo and rev counter is the handbrake warning light. Some reproduction dashs have a secon warning light below the yello one. This can be used either for a low oil pressure warning light or rear screen heater.

I have 2 micro-switches built into the NS headlight pod. The main beam switch works ok, and turns the lights off when down. However the other one, which I figure should operate the 'flasher' is cut short. I guess this has been disabled, but there are still wires running to it. Any ideas how where and how to start trouble shooting this?

I can send you a diagram if you pm me with your address. Otherwise use the wiring diagram to plot out just the lighting part.

Should the blue light on the Tacho light up when you 'flash' - or is this only for the permanent full beam setting?

It lights up whenever the full beam is on - whether permanently or when flashed.

Hope this helps

Richard

[RichC]

hi ian,
mine's a july 68 build & lh switch is interior lights, next is heater, then exterior lights. the rh switch is for dashboard lights . i.e. in the old days , if u wanted to leave your sidelights on when parked at night u could turn off the dashlights to save the battery I presume!
The orange light between the speedo & tacho is for handbrake.
yes the blue light on tacho should light when u use flash .
i had a few problems with the microswitches u talked about , namely lights not working & then lights not turning off when pods down.
this was from it standing unused outside for a few months over the winter . A squirt of wd40 and a bit of jiggling got them working again.
If you've got the bonnet off it makes access a lot easier to the wiring down there.
good luck!
richc

[john.p.clegg]

Richc

"if u wanted to leave your sidelights on when parked at night u could turn off the dashlights to save the battery I presume!"

...it's for night driving,switches off the dash lights to improve visibility


John

[Iyarno]

Thanks guys. So a couple of follow up questions.

Is the interior light toggle an over-riding switch to turn off the interior lights permanently regardless of open doors or the switch on the interior light itself?

If the right toggle switch is for the dashboard lights, should my reversing lights work automatically as soon as reverse is selected? I have to flick this switch to operate the reversing lights at the mo

Can anyone provide details of what and where the handbrake light switch is? Mine is void of any switch remains.

Will investigate the flasher when I have another spare weekend.

Thanks all, appreciated.

[john.p.clegg]

Sorry Ian (was Richc)

The handbrake light switch should be next to your left toe,on the bottom of the handbrake..

The interior lightswitch gives auto (door pin switches) and Off,or if you swap it you can have On/Auto/Off..

The reversing light switch is on the gearbox..

John

[RichC]

on mine there's no other way of switching on interior lights than this switch.
I'm not aware that there were courtesy light switches on these doors.
The reverse switch on top of the gearbox near front on rhs has wiring which is vulnerable to damage.
When i got mine there was no wiring at all! just a very sad grubby couple of terminals on the reverse switch.

handbrake switch should be halfway down the steering column somewhere...

[john.p.clegg]

Ian

...flasher is left hand stalk on steering column,down-main,up-dip,further up -flash main....

John

[Iyarno]

on mine there's no other way of switching on interior lights than this switch.
I'm not aware that there were courtesy light switches on these doors.
The reverse switch on top of the gearbox near front on rhs has wiring which is vulnerable to damage.
When i got mine there was no wiring at all! just a very sad grubby couple of terminals on the reverse switch.

handbrake switch should be halfway down the steering column somewhere...

I have courtesy switches on both doors, plus the interior light in the roof near the rear view mirror has a 3 position switch too. It all looks original to my untrained eye.

Will hunt for some damaged wiring on the gearbox next. Somewhere near the fuse box right?

[Iyarno]

Does anyone know what type of switch to use for this handbrake light? Is there a Lucas part no. Or can anyone point me similar style switch on say Holden.co.uk?

I need to get ordering.

[stugilmour]

Ian

Although mine is a later car (1969 build Federal) with the interior light switch integrated with the panel lights, the other parts of your interior light circuit & components sound the same as mine. A description of how it works might help with tracing the wires. As with anything Lotus and electrical YMMV.

Each of the three interior lights is supplied by a purple - hot at all times, fused.

All switching of the interior lights is to ground.

The Purple/White wires are essentially connecting the two door switches, the dash switch you asked about, the front interior light on the roof, and the two rear interior lights. This Purple/White "loop" acts to switch the entire interior light circuit to ground. If any one of the three switches (left door, right door, or dash switch) is electrically closed to ground, all three lights go on.

The switch on the front roof light has a black ground wire to it. This acts to allow you to directly ground the light bulb and turn on just the overhead light separately without the rear lights. Centering this switch removes the front light bulb from the circuit; i.e. it does not light up when any of the the three switches are electrically closed but the two rear lights work as normal. The third switch position just includes the front light within the Purple/White loop and the front light acts as normal with the rear lights.

I believe the second micro switch at your pod MAY be for the side light circuit to make sure the side lights are on if the pod is up. I will just confuse things if I try to describe this further from my car because the Federal cars are completely different on this circuit, and did not have the "come up flashing" feature.

HTH