[Irish311]

Hello All --

After about a 1.5 year hiatus, I'm resuming the restoration of my 1995 RRC and my first order of business is trying to troubleshoot an electrical fault.

Battery keeps draining. I've since determined that the interior dome light and the front R and L door courtesy lights stay on after I've removed the key from the ignition and shut the doors. The three of them won't go off...I'm assuming this is the source of my battery drain.

With the driver's side (front) door open, I tried pressing the courtesy light switch (on the body of the vehicle alongside the door hinges) inward to see if it would shut the door courtesy light off...I heard a low pitched click each time I pressed it coming from "underneath" the vehicle (or what I perceived to be "underneath"). The same "clicking" was not heard when I repeated this on the passenger side.

Was hoping that someone could give me some direction as to what it might be, where to start, etc. Bit of a novice with electrical issues, so any help is [humbly] appreciated. Thank you in advance.:help

 

[p76rangie]

The lights switch on my the switch on the doors earthing out. Them staying on could mean that your have a short somewhere and the wire is permanently earthed. Put the door switch out and make sure the wire is still connected and it is not shorting out.

 

[SwedishChef]

Clicking is usually a relay. But I suppose clicking indicates the relay is working properly, which leads me to suspect either a dodgy ground or a broken switch in another door. I believe that if any door is open, all the courtesy lights come on - not just in the door that's open. Check out the light switches in the other doors maybe?

Probably there is only one relay that works for all the doors - and it's located near the one you tested, which is why you're not hearing the clicking elsewhere.

 

[76FJ55]

You may have in issue with the timer relay on the light circuit. on my 95 I can open one or all the doors and the system will still turn off all the interior lights after some time (don't know how ling), to keep from draining the battery. The MFU (Multi-Function Unit) should control the interior and door lighting. The MFU will fade the lights out after all doors are closed and will also turn the lights off is the doors are open for an extended period of time. if the MFU has turned the lights off with the doors open triggering one of the door switched will turn the lights back on. Also there is a switch to manually turns the lights on next to the EAS controls. If this interior light switch is depressed the lights will stay on regardless of the MFU programming.

 

[Irish311]

Clicking is usually a relay. But I suppose clicking indicates the relay is working properly, which leads me to suspect either a dodgy ground or a broken switch in another door. I believe that if any door is open, all the courtesy lights come on - not just in the door that's open. Check out the light switches in the other doors maybe?

Probably there is only one relay that works for all the doors - and it's located near the one you tested, which is why you're not hearing the clicking elsewhere.

I'm just having a "Eureka Moment" based on your post...

My tailgate needs to be replaced. The frame is so rotted out that it's technically "ajar" - I'm wondering if that's what's causing the problem? If the MFU is reading that the upper tailgate is open, would the interior and door courtesy lights stay on?

Is there anyone that could test this on their 1995 RRC for me and let me know? Otherwise, it looks like I might need to troubleshoot or replace the MFU after having determined if there is a short somewhere.

Am I thinking about this correctly here?

 

[SwedishChef]

I'm just having a "Eureka Moment" based on your post...

My tailgate needs to be replaced. The frame is so rotted out that it's technically "ajar" - I'm wondering if that's what's causing the problem? If the MFU is reading that the upper tailgate is open, would the interior and door courtesy lights stay on?

Is there anyone that could test this on their 1995 RRC for me and let me know? Otherwise, it looks like I might need to troubleshoot or replace the MFU after having determined if there is a short somewhere.

Am I thinking about this correctly here?

I believe that, unless your interior lights are switched on using the button on the dash, that anything else which activates your interior lights should automatically time out. Including the tailgate. That being said, if there's a dodgy connection somewhere, it's entirely possible that that connection is continuously activating the lights - not leaving them enough time to time out. Otherwise they should fade out after a minute or so.

 

[SwedishChef]

Is there anyone that could test this on their 1995 RRC for me and let me know? Otherwise, it looks like I might need to troubleshoot or replace the MFU after having determined if there is a short somewhere.

Am I thinking about this correctly here?

I will test this on mine tonight.

Yes check all the switches are getting a solid current first. I'm not sure if the MFUs can fail on one particular thing. I'd expect the entire thing to fail which should affect more than just interior lights. Just a guess. Sounds like wiring or possibly a tired relay to me.

 

[SwedishChef]

Also, see this post. Not sure if this is you or not. http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/showthread.php?t=55618

 

[Irish311]

You may have in issue with the timer relay on the light circuit. on my 95 I can open one or all the doors and the system will still turn off all the interior lights after some time (don't know how ling), to keep from draining the battery. The MFU (Multi-Function Unit) should control the interior and door lighting. The MFU will fade the lights out after all doors are closed and will also turn the lights off if the doors are open for an extended period of time. If the MFU has turned the lights off with the doors open triggering one of the door switched will turn the lights back on.

Still working on this electrical issue.

Per your quote above, is this to say that it's the MFU that controls the interior light delay? If so, does that mean my 1995 RRC does NOT have the separate individual Interior Light Delay relay found in the Haynes manual?

This bit with the relays has been confusing as hell, b/c the Haynes Manual only goes up to 1992 MY and some of the diagrams - like the relays it says are "mounted on the steering column" - don't make any sense. I don't see ANY relays mounted on my steering column. Likewise, the RAVE manual doesn't really discuss these relays at all (unless i'm missing it?).

Frustrating. Just frustrating. Can anyone set me straight here about where the interior lamp delay relay is located on a 1995 RRC?

 

[p76rangie]

Still working on this electrical issue.

Per your quote above, is this to say that it's the MFU that controls the interior light delay? If so, does that mean my 1995 RRC does NOT have the separate individual Interior Light Delay relay found in the Haynes manual?

This bit with the relays has been confusing as hell, b/c the Haynes Manual only goes up to 1992 MY and some of the diagrams - like the relays it says are "mounted on the steering column" - don't make any sense. I don't see ANY relays mounted on my steering column. Likewise, the RAVE manual doesn't really discuss these relays at all (unless i'm missing it?).

Frustrating. Just frustrating. Can anyone set me straight here about where the interior lamp delay relay is located on a 1995 RRC?

Go to the RAVE CD and look for etlh950x.pdf and this is the electrical manual for a 95. Section J1 deals with the interior lights and other things. The interior lamps are controlled by the MFU.

 

[SwedishChef]

Still working on this electrical issue.

Per your quote above, is this to say that it's the MFU that controls the interior light delay? If so, does that mean my 1995 RRC does NOT have the separate individual Interior Light Delay relay found in the Haynes manual?

This bit with the relays has been confusing as hell, b/c the Haynes Manual only goes up to 1992 MY and some of the diagrams - like the relays it says are "mounted on the steering column" - don't make any sense. I don't see ANY relays mounted on my steering column. Likewise, the RAVE manual doesn't really discuss these relays at all (unless i'm missing it?).

Frustrating. Just frustrating. Can anyone set me straight here about where the interior lamp delay relay is located on a 1995 RRC?

Sorry to state the obvious, I'm sure you thought of this already just didn't mention it. Actuate the light and follow the sound of the 'click'? Once you have access and can see the relays, you should be able to put your hand on one relay at a time and feel the click happening inside the relay with your hand on the right one.

This is stumping me too. As far as I know, it seems unusual that the MFU would fail just on deactivating the lights (if everything else is working properly), but at the same time, I think if the relay is clicking that means it's working. Maybe a short between the power and the relay? No wait — then the light shouldn't work at all.. hmm..

Let us know what you find.