I am the proud owner of a 1990 Rover. I bought it overseas, and brought it back to the US a few years ago. I have always had some issues with this old girl, but lately I have been getting my but kicked by an a headlight issue. My drivers side headlight does not work. I have replaced both original sealed beams with halogen, and both new lights work when i swapped them into the passenger side. I have looked at the wiring harnesses for both sides, have cleaned and re-crimped the bullet connectors and tested continuity for all wires. I have also replaced the headlight switch. My wiring harness appears to be a mish mosh from an older model.....my headlights wiring colors are blue/white, blue/red, and black, with a red and black wire for the parking lights (these lights work for both). I have checked the voltage on the wiring......BR to GND = 12vdc, BW to GND = 0 vdc, BL to GND = 0vdc. These number seem to be normal...unless i am reading the Haynes wrong....which is likely because the Haynes does not have my car in it....but what is new. The closest diagram that i have been using is located on page 12A-19.

Additional piece of information......after i took the car out of storage from the winter, the blinkers do not work either. My hazards work fine. Without a decent electrical drawing, tracing my problems has been troubling. Any help from you all would be greatly appreciated.

 

Haynes covers 1969 thru 2001 and has wiring diagrams

why isn't your car in it? diagrams 18 thru 32 should apply

 

have you checked the relay under dash shelf its red also there a resister by the rad next to the balk head stiffener

 

MK and Capt thanks for the help.........I have gotten the headlight to finally work.....I ended up replacing the bullet connectors with something more hardy, blade style connectors, and then soldered the wires into the normally crimped ends....and additionally took off the earth ground mounted on the firewall, and cleaned all the connections. My headlights work well....thankfully. However, i am still troubleshooting the turn signals. This is driving me crazy......my hazards work great....and just replaced the actuator switch in the steering column.....lights do not come on or flash.

As for the Haynes.....I was using diagram 18 for general ideas...however none of my wire colors match it......i am confident that the gentleman who did my basic restoration used an older wiring harness, and thereby my colors match earlier diagrams.

 

when I got my 79 back in 2004 I found that 75% of my electrical issues were solved by cleaning or replacing the connectors in the loom and all related connection points

and this means finding all the connectors in the circuit ... hot side AND ground.

I also replaced the fuse box pretty early on and redid all the connectors there

example ..... my turn signals became irregular recently and 30 minutes with some emery cloth, needle files and pliers (to crimp) improved things much ... and then a new flasher relay did wonders!



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knowing how to use a volt/ohm meter is VERY VERY useful . . . I'm called by associates often for this 'skill' ...... it isn't rocket science (especially on a Mini) ... with this tool you are not shooting in the dark . . .

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My flashers and turn signals run seperately from one another. This was on a 91. Turn signals only needed a new fuse to be right as rain once mine decided to stop working.

 

If they don't light up at all, first I'd check the fuse, then replace the flasher - it's a cheap 2 pin flasher relay from any autoparts store. The way the circuit works is power comes from the fuse panel to the flasher, and then to the signal switch.

Like the Capn says, a volt meter or even a cheap 12V test light can save you a lot of time and headaches.

 

my flasher unit is 3 lug . . . 1979 I've had since 2004 but is it the original wire loom?? Hmmmm .... I can NOT attest to this. But I have chased electric issues since day 2 of ownership! Day one was consumed by a leaking fuel pump spraying gas all over the engine which I had not noticed during the 6 hour drive to get the car home . . . .

I happen to have a new unopened "flasher" from MiniMania, which is a relabeled package from MiniSpares .... both labels are still attached

both places have part number GFU2208 "flasher and hazard relay plastic for injection MINI" is what's on the MM label
MiniSpares one says "flasher and hazard unit, black plastic"

This is unopened because when chasing lazy turn signals on my 79 I ordered it because the picture matched what I had in the car (not a 2 lug silver barrel) and b4 it arrived I took the 'flasher' out of my 79 and cleaned all the connections and my t/s started working nicely again. When this arrived I tossed it in the Mini drawer. Time passed and the t/s got lazy again and cleaning the lugs (and the female side connectors and checking the crimps and solder joints) didn't help so having read a bit more I just pulled the black cube from the car and went to the part store and quickly found a replacement for a few dollars (MM is $24 plus shipping) ... I put the under $10 one in last year and everything has been golden since ..... relays/flasher DO have a mechanical part if you read up on them, and that mechanical part will wear out or fail over time.

Wiring diagrams I have for 79 and beyond show only one 'flasher' ..... but I don't have enuf hours for an EE degree ... it was just a sideline while I was a computer science major (MS) with courses at PURDUE school of Electrical Engineering ... back in my day they were having trouble deciding if a course where you built computer circuit boards was EE or CS and usually courses had 2 numbers, one in the Engineering School, and one in the Science school. I got a generic MS having studied in the school of science. Sponsor who paid my way was upset I was not in school of engineering. Didn't understand this then but now my son has a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and it all makes sense.