I've been having an intermittent problem with my dip-beam which got much worse last night. It would work most of the time, but every so often I would use main-beam and when I would return to dip-beam.....nothing!! I would have side-lights only, so would have to resort to main-beam and twist the height adjustment down.

Anyway, I took the car round to Peter Cross at Tibberton(Worcester) and he very quickly found the problem Bad/dirty contact on the relay fitted next to battery, it was clicking, but no power getting through the contacts and on to the lights.

Just thought I'd share that problem/cure.

My advice is to anybody with that silly system. Get rid of it before the entire loom burns out. The UK is the only place on earth with Dim Dip. It is not needed and is nothing but trouble.

I dunno about the loom burning out - all that'll happen is that you'll run out of dip beam. Usually at the least convenient time possible...

Adding relays to the dip and main beam will improve lighting and reduce the current going through the light switch.



Agreed. It's not needed for the MOT, either.

Well I have repaired a few 2cv's in Oz where most of the loom melted. Yes it is only the wires feeding the light switch and headlight but the wires running next to all the others wires taking them out too.
So don't muck about, remove it, the sooner then better.

The DimDip relay doesn't affect any of that, though.

All it does is to put reduced power to the dip filament when the light switch is turned to side/parking lights and the ignition is on.

They do melt other wires; like it or not.
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/~upload/7886/1223609361.pdf

The problem with the wires melting is not necessarily the dim dip fiasco its more to do with the lack of fuses in the system, how the 5W sidelights get a fuse but the mains dont defies all logic

More of a prob was the standard steel clip on the airfilter shorting out the loom, or from some other short on your Aus victim.

As Mike points out in the handbook article its the actual switch that takes the punishment

The dim dip system really does belong at the bottom of a bin! Luckily tis only a UK thing and the work around solution is common knowledge in the UK club

However more than happy to be corrected

Sean

Hi Sean,
it's definitely the light switch which suffers if the dim-dip nonsense isn't bypassed.
It was John Wood, from Leeds, who first figured out what the problem was and how to address it.

Oddly enough, there are still 'rebuilt' cars being sold in the UK with this setup still hooked up, despite the fact that the fix has been known about for almost 20 years...

ken.

I swear you know FAR too much



At risk of goin off on another tangent...(.bodgejobs thread?) thats cause the restorers, despite "continual development", really dont understand the cars. They seem to be looking for £££££ rather than having lived with the cars and share the enthusiasm all here do. Dont get me wrong it aint a crime to run a business i have the greatest respect for most traders and specialists but some are almost ....{ self sensor button this message has been suspended due to Sean goin off on a rant when he should be working}

In that pdf from the aussiefrogs site, it states "when sidelights were on, and the engine
running, dipped headlights at reduced intensity were displayed."

Now I know that if my sidelights are on, they are the only lights that are on, so I'm guessing that I don't have the dim-dip thing fitted

However, my lights switch still gets hot, but that's been discussed in another thread.