Rear os light

[moya]

Hi Ant,

The off side rear light isn't working and we have eliminated the bulb because it works on the near side and we tried a new bulb. The bulb is working fine for the brakes (same bulb does both) but not the light. Checked in the hand book to see if it may be a fuse but according to that the same fuse does both. Mystified so wondering if you might have any idea what the problem could be.

Praying it isn't anything such as wiring and needs to be done by the garage as we spent a fortune just before Christmas when the internal fan/blower wouldn't turn off. It needed a new part that cost just over a hundred pounds and then labour charge on top of that. The van was 3 months out of warranty so had to cough up!

We have the 2005 Berlingo 2ltr Hdi.

Hope you can help.

[ant]

Hi Moya.
Don't panic, you've got a very common problem. If you take the bulb out you'll see the two connectors at the bottom of the socket sitting on a fibre disc. With the ignition keys in your pocket, use a pen knife or similar to both clean the surface of the connectors and lift them very slightly off the fibre disc. If you still have no joy pull the large connector off the back of the light, ( squeeze the metal locking spring and pull) and check that all the metal pins are clean. It's normally one or the other.
Ant

[moya]

Thanks for your quick reply Ant.

As soon as Roger gets in from work tonight I will let him know and he can have a go at it tomorrow. It will cheer him up no end as he was starting to think we were going to have another unwanted bill on our hands!

I will let you know how he gets on with it.

[moya]

Tried everything you said Ant and still can't get the rear light to work. Any more suggestions?

Is it possible that when it was in the garage to have the fan module fitted that a wire could have been disloged as I know they had to take all the dash out to work on it? This is clutching at straws really as it seems strange that all other lights are working and if that had happened you would presume that none of them would work.

Thanks

Just to add to this Ant we also realised that the number plate light isn't working either. This also isn't listed in the handbook as having a fuse, so are the two connected somehow?

[ant]

Hi Moya.
The number plate light takes its power from the rear light wire, if you pull the rear light wires out through the hole you'll see two wires disappearing off towards the number plate, just check the connection of the two wires to the main loom is ok. The most common failure of the number plate is however caused by water getting in. If you take the cover off the no' plate light you see if its all corroded. Getting back to the rear light problem, you really need to establish whether or not there is any power getting to the light, for this you need a metre to test the wire at the light end. You say the all other lights work, does that include the front dipped beam headlights and side lights? The fuse for the headlight is in the under bonnet fuse box ( separate fuse for LH and RH light). If they're all ok then there must be a break in the wire somewhere, either a connector not put back properly or the connection where the no' plate light wires meet the rear light wire.
Ant

[moya]

Have tried all the things you mentioned and the front lights are working ok. Checked all the fuses today so unfortunately have had to book it in to an auto electricians for tomorrow am.
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If they're all ok then there must be a break in the wire somewhere, either a connector not put back properly or the connection where the no' plate light wires meet the rear light wire.
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How can there be a connector not put back etc if it hasn't been touched by anybody? The mystery continues.

Thanks for you help again Ant and will let you know the outcome tomorrow. Not too many pennies I hope.

[moya]

The lights are now working! The auto electrician found that there was a break in the wire somewhere as you said Ant. Finding exactly where it was took over two hours and a bill for £101.

Apparently the wiring for the rear lights runs both sides of the vehicle which is no problem when it is the Berlingo van as he knew exactly where to look. He managed to find where the wiring was extended by Romahome and the connector had come loose with the vibration over time. He said that they hadn't been generous with the length of wiring (maybe a shortage of wire that day) - his words not mine. He said due to the wire being so tight it had been pulling on the connector block.

Thanks again for all your help Ant. I just hope that we don't have any more gremlins as our bank card won't flex much more.