Braking Headlights

[dipsomaniac]

no i'm not scrapping the car.... yet. when braking - the headlights and intrument panel lights come on. when the main lights are on - the brake lights stay on. Can somebody please advise.

[El Dingo]

It sounds like an earth fault or cable damage.

 

There might be a bad earth on one of the rear light clusters, and so the current finds it's way home via the lighting circuit, lighting up the headlights in the process. The most common symptom is where the indicator and/or sidelights light up instead of the brake light, or the brake lights flash when you use the indicators. :lol:

 

The way to fix it is to take the light clusters out and make sure that there is a good earth between the metal parts in the light fittings and the car body.

 

Another possibility is that the wiring loom has become damaged and the brake light and headlight feed cables are shorted to each other. From reading other posts, this seems to be common in the Galaxy, so do a search.

[dipsomaniac]

thanks El Dingo. The bad earth on the rear light cluster makes sense. I will have a look when it stops chucking it down.

[chromedome]

Check the brake light bulbs. They are double filament and you'll probably find that the two elements are bridged.

 

Therefore when you put your brakes on the lights come on and visa versa. Had it before.

[dipsomaniac]

solved. the contacts were bridging. It was the contacts inside the holder touching. thanks for the replies.

[Masked Marauder]

You would think that at 3p per diode the manufacturers would have solved this happening by now, it would cost about 6p a car.......