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I parked my car at work at lunchtime yesterday, i.e. with headlamps switched off. Came out at 6pm to find the headlights were on, although the stalk switch was still in the off position. Tail lights were not only, only headlights. Battery had gone dead so needed a jump-start. Headlights now permanently on regardless of switch position. Tails/brights etc. all working normally when switched to on position. Random spontanoeus short circuit somewhere perhaps?

Neil.

try unpluging the headlight relay...might be fused in the closed position, or the little return spring is broken...


other than a bad column switch.....which seems unlikely

i have to agree it sounds like a toasted relay since everything else is working as intended

Thanks guys but er..... where is the headlamp relay? I can't find it anywhere in the owner's manual, nor in the wiring diagrams on my CarDisc CD. I've tried pulling out every square electrical box I can find in the engine bay, but no success! Any pointers?

N.

x-rad wrote: other than a bad column switch.....which seems unlikely

The stalks are always the culprit on my cars, strange.

Headlight relay Alfas don't have them.
That's why the stalk switches burn out - whole of current going through them. Then people put larger wattage globes in and draw even more current through the stalk switch and then, Bob's your auntie, switch don't work no more.

Add a relay for each light, put in as big wattage bulbs as you want and you can switch on daylight any time. I run 4 relays for headlights, each seperately fused.

Thanks Daniel. I'll attack the column swith this weekend.... if it stops snowing for long enough! (Blizzard conditions here this morning.)

Daniel wrote: Add a relay for each light, put in as big wattage bulbs as you want and you can switch on daylight any time. I run 4 relays for headlights, each seperately fused.

Daniel, do you have by chance any photos or drawings of your new installation with quad relays? My stalk switch went with smoke (literally ) some week ago.

Daniel wrote:Headlight relay Alfas don't have them

It's funny isn't it, even though the Workshop Manual actually has a listing for a headlight relay in the Key.

Pics would be good though.

ROCK ON
R~R

Aaaargh!! Something is very wrong with my electrics. Brake lights on/off reversed, headlights coming on on their own and now something is draining the battery dead flat even with the haunted headlights disconnected. Tried taking the headlight column switch apart, but it all looks and tests OK. Gonna have a look at the fusebox tonight for a major short. Anybody know any good books on auto electrics for learners?

OK, unplugging the wires from the column switch doesn't make the lights go out, so it isn't the switch. Careful examination of the wiring diagram shows a modification to the Milano wiring from 1987 onwards involving 2 relays in the circuitry for the low beam headlamps. After ripping half the dashboard apart, I finally found one conventional relay in the wiring from plug "F" on the fusebox. Disconnecting this relay still didn't put the lights out. Then I found another larger square black box in the plug "F" wiring, which does put the lights out when disconnected! Only problem is that this box is full of electronic parts includig a silicon chip or 2. I presume that this is an electronic relay? Made by Lucas in 1990. Presumably this will need replaced, as no way of fixing solid state electronics?