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There is nothing quite like working on an electrical system without have any sort of electrical diagram.
Fortunately, this is a Land Rover - how complicated can it be?
To begin with, part of the electrical system appears to be original and part was added in at a later date.
The original wiring appears to be the dashboard, fusebox and engine compartment - but keep in mind the
dashboard has been relocated so the wiring was probably all redone by Carmichael. And, the truck is fitted with
an alternator instead of a generator. The alternator appears to be original.
Wiring for the lights, directionals and steering column was all modified at a later date.
Also, a few extras were added - front and rear fog lights, reverse lights, a windscreen washer, a 4WD indicator
light, directional indicator lights and a Series III combination switch for directions, dimmer and horns.
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Starting point |
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Dashboard layout
The white box to the left of the guages contains relays. The silver panel to the right of the guages has switches
for the fog and reverse lights, interior lights and windscreen washer. It also has indicators for the directional
lights, the fog lights, the reverse lights and 4WD. What you can't see here is the Series III switch on the
steering column.
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Forward side of the front bulkhead
Left to right - Directional flasher relay, brake and clutch fluid resevoir, small round junction block, voltage
regulator (for the alternator), main fuseblock, main power relay.
I'm guessing that anything with red paint was on this truck when it was in service. That would be the main harness (which
is cloth wrapped), the main power relay and fusebox but not the directional relay or the corregated-looking cable conduit.
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Behind the drivers seat
The engine compartment lid is open in this picture and you can see the original 109 bulkhead. On the left there is a
junction box for the light wiring. There is also a similar box by the rear crossmember. From the type of wire I'm
guessing it's not what Carmichael installed. Over on the right is the starter button (yes, behind the driver's seat).
The little square box was a junction box but is not connected to anything. On the other side of the panel (in the
engine compartment) is the ignigtion coil.
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Taillights
The yellow directional light is pretty standard, although it is a plastic replacement. I'm not sure
about the big red light (running and stop lights). A white reverse light was added on both sides as was the red
rear fog lamp (above the reflector).
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Problems? |
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The truck had a few definate problems and a few potential problems. Some things needed to be fixed and some things needed
to be improved on. And, I was going to be adding the search light, blue light and siren so I wanted everything as solid
electrically as possible.
Problems:
- Directional Switch
- The Series III switch on the steering column was not in good shape mechanically. It worked for the
headlights and horn, but was difficult to move for the directionals and had no way to self-cancel. And, it just
did not look right in the truck.
- Left rear directional light
- Not working, although the bulb was good.
- Front Fog Lamps
- Worked intermittantly
- Panel Indicator lights
- Some of the lights in the silver panel were burned out and no replacement could be found.
Potential problems:
- Fusebox
- Just your typical Land Rover fusebox with two fuses - one being used for most everything and the other there for looks.
Add to that a bunch of extra wires plugged in on the fused and unfused sides of the box. Not a good look.
- Directional flasher relay
- An interesting bit of Italian engineering - it had connections to two indicator lights. These did not indicate left
or right - the relay design was that the indicators were energised based on load on the relay. Both indicators would flash
if the directionals were used as 4-way flashers but there was no way to make them do that. Add to that the relay was made in
Italy and I decided it had to go.
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Changes and Additions |
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While working on the electrical system I made diagrams and kept notes - which is all going in a notebook.
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Battery Cut-off switch
The first addition I made was to install a battery cut-off switch. It is installed in the panel behind the front left seat.
The wire from the battery (black wire in this photo) was moved from the starter pushbutton to the cut-off switch and a new
red wire was added back to the starter pushbutton.
The battery is located under the left side rear seat in the toolbox (the left front seat of a regular 109).
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Dashboard
With the panel dropped and the Series III switch removed. The rectangular plug (just to the left of the steering column)
is part of the Series III wiring harness for the directional switch and turned out to a good connection point as I was able
to re-use the portion of the harness connected to the switch.
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Relay Box
Actually, a fairly tidy installation, although if I had to replace a relay I wouldn't be very happy. There are six relays
and fuses for the low beams, high beams, front fog lamps, horn, left and right directionals. I was suprised that there was no
relay or fuse for the rear fog lamps or reverse lamps.
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- Main Fuse Panel
- The lower fuse on the fuseblock was not being used for anything that I could find so I replaced the whole block with
a six-circuit fuse block that uses blade-type fuses. It uses a single feed circuit which is OK since the fuse block only
gets power when the ignigtion switch is On and can handle six fused circuits.
- Auxillary Fuse Panel
- As it turned out, I needed a second fuse block for circuits that needed unswitched 12V. I mounted a second fuse block
inside the cab, on the dashboard to the right of the steering column. Power is supplied from the hot terminal on the starter
button through a heavy guage wire. This fuse block supplies the emergency flashers and the reverse lights - I can also use it
for power for radio equipment at some point.
- Directional Switch
- I picked up a stock early Series IIa directional switch (the type with the wheel) that was in good shape except for the
wiring. That was wired in to the remains of the Series III harness leaving a provision for the emergency flasher connections.
With the relays (white box) in the directional circuit, wiring is a bit strange. The relays are controlled by the directional
switch; power for the relay coils comes from the main fuse block. The directional lights are turned on by the relay contacts;
power for the lights comes from the directional flasher relay - which in turn (now) draws power from the Auxillary Fuse panel.
It sounds more complicated than it is, but with the relays in the circuit there was no other way to handle it. The one rear
lamp that was not working was just a bad connection - suprising since the lamp assemblies are fairly new.
- Directional Flasher Relay
- I installed a Tridon type EL13 flasher relay. This is a heavy-duty type - the flash rate is not affected by the load. It
can handle up to 10 27W lamps. Has three connections for power, load and pilot light so wiring was no problem. And it's easily
replaced.
- Horn
- The Series III switch setup was wired to switch 12V through the horn button (on the end of the switch) to the horn relay
(white box). A standard Series IIa horn push switches the ground connection. Since I wanted to use the IIa horn push, I had to
rewire the horn relay. While I was at it, I replaced the single horn with dual horns (from a Morris Minor). They sound
much better.
- Headlight Dimmer Switch
- This was fairly simple - I just installed a floor dimmer switch on the dashboard to the right of the steering column. The
headlight High and Low beams are controlled via relays in the white box so the dimmer switch only has to turn on the relays.
Having the relays has one side benefit - the headlight current is not being handled by the Land Rover light switch.
- Emergency 4-way Flashers
- Something I felt the truck needed. I installed a NOS Lucas emergency flasher switch in the silver panel to the left of the
steering column, replacing one of the (no longer needed) indicator lights. The switch is wired so that it breaks the circuit
for the directional switch and makes a circuit to both directional circuits. But, the directionals are relay controlled - so
it only turns on the relays. Power comes from the Auxillary Fuse panel so it can be used with the ignigtion off. Power for the
lights of course is done the same as with the directionals - through the flasher relay.
- Front Fog Lamps
- These are controlled by a relay in the white box. Power for the relay coil comes from the main fuse block, so the lights
only work with the ignigtion ON. With the new main fuse panel these now have thier own fused circuit. The lamp assemblies had
a lot of internal corrosion which accounted for the intermittant operation.
- Rear Fog Lamps
- The rear fog lamps were wired so that they would only turn on with the low beams. This was handled by the low beam relay
in the white box, so the low beams and the rear fogs share the same fuse. The only change I made was to change the switch for
the rear fogs and add a relay. This allows me to use the rear fog lamps as part of the emergency flasher circuit.
- Reverse Lamps
- The power source for the reverse lamps was from the main fuse block but I moved it to the auxillary fuse block. These lamps
are manually controlled by a switch in the silver panel, so they could be easily used for work lights if need be. Future
project is to move them to above the rear door.
- 4WD Indicator
- This is the big square red indicator in the silver panel. It turns on only when the transfer case in in 4WD high. Power
comes from the main fuse block and it now has it's own fused circuit.
- Cold Start Circuit
- Doesn't really do anything as the carburator has no connection. It now has it's own fused circuit on the main fuse block.
- Indicator Lights
- The non-functioning indicator lights in the silver panel were replaced with lights from a local source.
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New Main Fuse Panel
Mounted in place of the old fuse block. Circuits on the left are the original Land Rover circuits (directionals,
cold start and wipers/stoplights/instruments). Circuits on the right are for the front fog lamp relay and the 4WD
indicator light. One open position for future use.
The lower fuse from the original block (which was not connected to anything) is now handled by a single fuse
connector (black) just in case I do find a use for it.
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Auxillary Fuse Panel
In the panel to the right of the steering column. Also, the headlight dimmer switch, the flasher relay and the
relay for the rear fog lamps. All this has to come out when the truck gets re-painted red - I may move the two
relays to the front side of the bulkhead.
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Dashboard
Slightly improved. The steering wheel was cleaned up and repainted. The correct directional switch mounted and the
wiring all neatly tucked away.
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Emergency Equipment Wiring |
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This was fun. I had no idea of how anything was originally wired. The only vestige of the original wiring was a section of
wire in the roof that was for the siren.
I was going to install the searchlight, blue beacon light and siren on the roof. I also had a set of two-tone air horns
to install on the front crossmember by the radiator and the Winkworth bell on the front bumper.
There was also the question of a control panel. But where? The logical place to me was above the windscreen. Easy to reach
from either side of the truck and out of the way.
Then, there is the question of wiring. The bell and the beacon light draw relatively low current but the other devices
need a bit more power. I didn't want to use heavy switches. I decided that relays were needed.
I thought that I could install the relays in the engine compartment but I decided to install relays and a fuse panel in
the original bulkhead on the right-hand side. A cable runs from the control panel to the relays. Heavy cables run to
the devices from the relays. Each circuit has it's own fuse and a sixth fuse is for the control panel and relay coils.
I also installed a master switch in the silver panel to the left of the steering column to prevent accidental blowing
of horns, etc.
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Fuse Panel and Relays
In the original bulkhead - right side (behind the driver). Power comes directly from the hot terminal on the starter switch
so the fusebox is always live. I need to fabricate a cover for the whole assembly.
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Control Panel
Switches for the lights, bell, siren and horns. The red indicator shows when the panel is live. The panel needs to be
enclosed a bit more.
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Siren mounting
The Francis siren is actually mounted using the original holes in the roof. The wood is there for a bit of re-inforcing.
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Siren, Blue light and searchlight
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