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Old 08-30-2010, 07:24 PM   #1
SmokeE
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Default taillights not working

ok.. i hit a curb and my brake light and taillight on the right side went off and the dashboard light went off.. i went into the trunk and removed the panel inside where the wires are.. i reached down and pulled the bundle up. it was wrapped in cloth.. after i moved it i tried the lights again.. and now both brake lights work.. but niether taillight works.. so it went from both workin on the left and none workin on the right. to both brakelights workin and niether taillight working.. the wires did not look frayed.. but i didnt pull them all the way out.. i have tried different bulbs. and tried cleaning the contacts.. but it didnt do anything.. does anyone know if i will need a whole new wiring harness or if i can just check the wires and reconnect any frays in them? and one of my bulbs only works on the drivers side. when i switch it to the passenger side. it doesnt work.. and what should i do about the dashboard light?
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Old 08-30-2010, 07:38 PM   #2
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Do your gauges illuminate? Does your window/sunroof switches, heater panel and cigarette lighter surround illuminate?
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Old 08-30-2010, 09:31 PM   #3
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my guages dont illumiunate.. just the abs light is illuminated.. the heater panel never has since i got the car.. the window switches never have either.. my windows still work.. seems like its just the speedometer and **** like that.. i think the odometer still displays the mileage too.
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Old 08-30-2010, 10:13 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by SmokeE View Post
my guages dont illumiunate.. just the abs light is illuminated.. the heater panel never has since i got the car.. the window switches never have either.. my windows still work.. seems like its just the speedometer and **** like that.. i think the odometer still displays the mileage too.
I told you a long time ago it was your headlight switch. There's a rheostat inside of the switch that controls everything on the dimmer circuit. You have a short somewhere that caused the rheostat to blow. Check the grey/red wire going to the back of the radio, it's the most common wire that's known to short out. Don't replace the headlight switch until you've corrected the short, otherwise your new headlight switch will just blow the same rheostat. And before you say it, we've already been through this before, your ABS light and other fault lights in the cluster have nothing to do with this problem as they're not on the dimmer circuit. Neither do your headlights. The problem is within the switch itself. Yes, I understand that your headlights still function, that's because they're not on the dimmer circuit either.

Last edited by cooljess76; 11-22-2010 at 04:00 AM.
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Old 11-22-2010, 02:05 AM   #5
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Default I'll buy that-sort of the nature of a multi-function switch, right?

Mine has this same problem. In addition, I was pulled over and informed my brake lights weren't working.

But the instrument cluster is the thing here. I was busy under the hood fixing the headgasket problem and have it running nicely, but there a host of electrical issues. I removed a pioneer stereo (no faceplate) and replaced every light bulb in the cluster, but no change. You the orange wire to the stereo is often suspect. I'll be checking that first. Problem is, I don't know much about circuitry.
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Old 11-22-2010, 02:27 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by jwinlaporte View Post
Mine has this same problem. In addition, I was pulled over and informed my brake lights weren't working.

But the instrument cluster is the thing here. I was busy under the hood fixing the headgasket problem and have it running nicely, but there a host of electrical issues. I removed a pioneer stereo (no faceplate) and replaced every light bulb in the cluster, but no change. You the orange wire to the stereo is often suspect. I'll be checking that first. Problem is, I don't know much about circuitry.
Same thing happened to me when my switch blew. Bavarian Auto Recycling kept sending me the wrong switches. First they sent me a regular e36 switch which is totally different, then they sent me a 318ti foglight switch which looks similar, but has a different pinout, then they sent me the correct 318ti headlight switch but it was blown. I finally gave up and decided to fix it myself. It was a pain in the ass and I don't recommend attempting it unless you're really good at soldering. Anyway, while I was waiting for the correct switch to arrive from Bavarian Auto Recycling, I got pulled over for my tailights being out. I fixed it in front of the cop, it was a blown fuse.

Here's what happened. I was working on my radio when I shorted out the grey/red(dimmer) wire. This blew the rheostat inside the headlight switch which killed all of my interior lighting that was connected to the dimmer circuit(gauges, HVAC panel, window/sunroof switches, cig lighter etc). Then later, I was fooling around with the blown switch and somehow blew the fuse to the tailights(the tailights are also controlled by the headlight switch, they come on when you turn on the headlights).

The whole time, my headlights functioned just fine. What the OP can't seem to understand is that the headlight switch is a multi-function switch. It's possible for part of the switch to fail and the other part to function normally. The part that usually fails is the dimmer rheostat. Obviously this will kill everything on the dimmer circuit. I asked the OP if his window/sunroof switches still LIGHT UP and he replied that his windows work Again, the dimmer circuit controlls LIGHTING, it has nothing to do with the function of the switches.

Last edited by cooljess76; 11-22-2010 at 04:00 AM.
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Old 11-22-2010, 03:28 AM   #7
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Default Which wire is which?

[QUOTE=cooljess76;286166] I shorted out the orange(dimmer) wire. This blew the rheostat inside the headlight switch which killed all of my interior lighting that was connected to the dimmer circuit(gauges, HVAC panel, window/sunroof switches, cig lighter etc).

I looked at the bmw radio wiring harness, but the closest thing to orange I saw was more butterscothy orangey light brown, so I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right wire. My wife believes most men are color blind, so who knows. How does one solder a rheostat? I have previously taken apart the headlight switch, but I saw no obvious damage to rheostat area.

My tail lights are all working, the other issue is that the brake lights are not. (probably switch on pedal, but I'm not sure about that either)

My next step is to purchase an electrical tester and learn how to use it.
Electrical issues are not what I'm good at. The diagrams in the Haynes manual are not means comprehensive. Didn't I see some diagrams here somewhere?

Last edited by jwinlaporte; 11-22-2010 at 03:32 AM. Reason: The English teacher tries to be clear.
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Old 11-22-2010, 03:50 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by jwinlaporte View Post
I looked at the bmw radio wiring harness, but the closest thing to orange I saw was more butterscothy orangey light brown, so I'm not sure if I'm looking at the right wire. My wife believes most men are color blind, so who knows. How does one solder a rheostat? I have previously taken apart the headlight switch, but I saw no obvious damage to rheostat area.

My tail lights are all working, the other issue is that the brake lights are not. (probably switch on pedal, but I'm not sure about that either)

My next step is to purchase an electrical tester and learn how to use it.
Electrical issues are not what I'm good at. The diagrams in the Haynes manual are not means comprehensive. Didn't I see some diagrams here somewhere?
You know what, you're right! It's the grey/red wire. I was mistaken because on my Blaupunkt harness, the wire that connects to the grey/red wire is orange. lol, now I have to go back and correct all of the threads where I said it was orange

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Old 11-22-2010, 04:30 AM   #9
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Now that sounds right. Gray/Red is what the Haynes manual says. That wire goes pretty much everywhere throughout the car. Buy a tester it is. Thanks for the leads.
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Old 11-22-2010, 09:45 PM   #10
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Default The symptoms.

Okay, it's all screwed up now. Had water coming in antenna hole back there. And now the list.
No brake lights at all. (brake light switch?)
No instrument cluster illumination. (bad rheostat on the knob? or bad wire?)
No tail lights on left side only. (definitely wire problem) this was same fuse as interior lights...fixed.
No tape on the wires, so someone has been back there.
No stereo installed. (Yet another reason for wiring troubles?)

I bought a tester and found that with the tail lights on, none of the wires in the harness on the left side are "hot." (the correct one on the right shows 12 volts.) Must go do work now.

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Old 11-22-2010, 11:28 PM   #11
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Check fuse 46.
If that blows it can cause all kinds of problems you mentioned plus a no-start. If it is blown, that may just be a symptom of the problem, though.
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Old 11-23-2010, 12:22 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by dave45056 View Post
Check fuse 46.
If that blows it can cause all kinds of problems you mentioned plus a no-start. If it is blown, that may just be a symptom of the problem, though.
All other fuses are okay. Tail lights now working. But still no brake lights and instr. cluster lights.
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Old 11-23-2010, 01:16 AM   #13
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It's your headlight switch
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Old 11-23-2010, 01:26 AM   #14
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It's your headlight switch
+1 exact symptoms I had. There's something within the headlight switch that makes only the left side taillight illuminate when the parking lights are on. This is a feature on European models. They modified the design for US models, so both tailights will come on, but when my switch blew, it did exactly that. Replace your headlight switch and you'll be back in biz.
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Old 11-23-2010, 11:24 PM   #15
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Default Brakes light switch fixed it--but before I install a new headlight switch. . .

I installed the brake light switch, $8 from Autozone. All external lights now working.

Ordered headlight switch from Pelican this afternoon. The thing is with the instrument lights, all of the bulbs were burned out (I replaced them while waiting for the cylinder head earlier).
Am I just gonna ruin the new switch and bulbs because of a bad wire somewhere? I thought that if there was bad insulation on a wire, it would cause a fault to ground which would cause a fuse to blow, but there are no blown fuses. Could the last guy have blown up the rheostat and all of the bulbs while installing his aftermarket radio incorrectly? If so, the wires may be okay. I've learned a lot about circuitry in the last 48 hours, but there's much more I do not know, and I don't want to blow up a $50 light switch. What do you all think? I do know there is power to the switch and all the other lights work now. Wait, except one--the cargo light does not shut off. I had to remove it from the socket. Probably a switch somewhere in the hatch for that, right?
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