i drove to my sisters 200 mile away and parked up the car and then go off on holiday for three weeks. I return expecting it to be an arse to start, but lo it starts first crank!

anyway i start thinking - this is a bloody good car eh, and how its always reliable. so i set off on the 200 mile journey back homeward. its starting to get dark and i turn the lights on but the main beams wont work only the side lights. also my wipers have packed in. So there i am halfway home at the services tryin to suss out what is wrong. so i decide to try the fog lights and the wipers start working?!! when i let go of the fogs the wipers stop?!

wtf is going on and where do i start lookin?! any ideas much appreciated!

sounds like a bad earth problem to me. only thing i can suggest is that you check as many of the earth points as you can find and do an test to see how much resistance is there (the figure should be very low if the connection is good)

It's a low chance, but you could have a faulty solenoid.

What may be happening is, you're getting a build up of current which instead of going through the headlight switch, discharges across the wipers causing them to work. Fog lights use more power so the solonoid uses more current.

Probably not that, but worth having a look at anyway

goodness this problem is getting to be a bit of a ball ache, electrical problems are the worst thing you could possibly have go wrong with a car.

I've checked the earth points and they seem ok, I've put some new earthing points in as well - not seemed to have solved anything. I've had my multimeter out and theres a good main earth.

main beams wont work only side lights.

the interior fan, the wipers and the rear demister only work when the lights are on AND the fog light stalk is held back.

where can i find this solenoid crazyman??

anyone have more ideas??

Edited 9 September, 200718 yr by Ranger

been working on this a couple of days now, not anywhere closer to a solution.

have we got a wiring diagram for a mk2? I've searched but couldnt seem to find anything?

I've got a suspicition that its the yellow wire with the black stripe causing me grief but without a diagram of where it goes I'm pretty much stumped..

polos are the most wanky car to fix sometimes, pile of crap - I'm gonna drive the bitch through a wall.

i bought a haynes and lookin at the diagram still cant work out where my problem is.

I've got a right tit on with this car.. does anyone know anyone whos good with electrics in south yorks? any club members fancy helping us out?

Edited 19 September, 200718 yr by ranger2

I know how you feel about electrics ..

I have to keep disconecting my windscreen wipers and connecting them when it rains ..

There going crazy constantly all the time on full ..

You feel so retarded when its spitting and you have your windscreen wipers going like a rally car !

Hi mate, I had this very problem too and it was on a mk2 ranger also, but it happened to me in the middle of winter so lights and wipers were a must. Got some people angry as the only way to get them to work is to hold down full beam as youve said. Blinding drivers constantly is not good!!!

Anyways, back to the problem. I stuck the car into Bedrock veedubs and they traced the problem to a dodgy starter switch. If you take the steering shroud off and smell the starter switch where you insert your key you will probably smell that it has burnt out if thats the problem. Its just a case of unscrewing the old switch and bunging in a new one. Hope thats what it is and it solves your problem matey.

I know how you feel about electrics ..

I have to keep disconecting my windscreen wipers and connecting them when it rains ..

There going crazy constantly all the time on full ..

You feel so retarded when its spitting and you have your windscreen wipers going like a rally car !

aye i wa lookin at your thread earlier when i was searching around!

Hi mate, I had this very problem too and it was on a mk2 ranger also, but it happened to me in the middle of winter so lights and wipers were a must. Got some people angry as the only way to get them to work is to hold down full beam as youve said. Blinding drivers constantly is not good!!!

Anyways, back to the problem. I stuck the car into Bedrock veedubs and they traced the problem to a dodgy starter switch. If you take the steering shroud off and smell the starter switch where you insert your key you will probably smell that it has burnt out if thats the problem. Its just a case of unscrewing the old switch and bunging in a new one. Hope thats what it is and it solves your problem matey.

this sounds promising!!! i would have never even bothered looking there! ill have a look at this tonight!!

thankyou thankyou thankyou!!

just want to say thanks to those who helped me. the next time someone has this problem they will search the forum and then they will know the answer!!

i got the ignition switch part from GSF for 7.50. heres how you fit it.

you take the lower steering cowling off,

then steering wheel (use a bit of tape to mark its position so you put it back on straight!)

undo the three screws holding the stalks on.

unplug and then remove stalks

remove the allen bolt to the lower left of the column that holds the barrel assembly on

then prise of the locking washer holding the spring on (wrap the end of the column with loads of tape so that the washer doesnt fly away into the depths of the car!! or keep you head outta the way cos it flys off could easily take an eye out!)

then put your keys in and unlock the ignition

pull of the ignition assembly

look in the back of the assembly - undo the single screw holding the switch on and replace

the locking washer is a real basterd to get back on, you have to wedge the lower part of the steering column so it doesnt slip down. bash the washer flat with a hammer and then hammer it back on with a long metal tube (i used an old school spark plug remover),

the rest is reverse of removal!

polo now sorted yeyyy :-p :-D :-D :-D :-) :-) :-) 8-) :lol:

Edited 20 September, 200718 yr by Ranger

Excellent mate, glad i could help. I thought you could remove the switch without removing the whole lock assembly, twas a while ago when I took mine off so cant remember rightly. Good to hear you got it sorted anyways.

cheers

chuck

Excellent mate, glad i could help. I thought you could remove the switch without removing the whole lock assembly, twas a while ago when I took mine off so cant remember rightly. Good to hear you got it sorted anyways.

cheers

chuck

all thanks to you buddy,... i owe you a drink! i bet if i took it to an electrician it would have cost me lots..