more dodgy electrics

My pal Brian has a late +23/130 - so yes its failsafe. On the way home from a club lotus branch concours, all his dash lights went out. On checking the next day he had no front sidelights or rearlights. Headlamps work fine on full & dip beam. Now when he turns sidelights on he gets lights & dashlights but only for about a second or two. He says he can hear a click when they come on a a click when they turn themselves off ?
He has changed lightswitch but still has same problem, so not that. Any pearls of wisdom please ?

sounds like the thermal cut out is tripping out. check all of the earths and also for any shorts from bodged wiring behind the dash.

I’m guessing here, but sounds like the breaker on rear/panel/side/#plate harness. He’s going to have to find the ‘short’, I’d start in the back and work forward; he can use a meter or just unplug things, one at a time until the breaker stays “made”. Slow work because you’re waiting for the breaker to reset. A spare breaker would shorten the job and also tell if the old break is just weak. Good luck!

Hi,

Ditto to the above…

I’d highly recommend rewiring and putting in relays for the headlights.

I did this after my lights went off on teh way home last winter…

80 miles of trouble free drivig, then on a nice very twisty stretch
of road … click…NO lights…luckily I had my wits about me and
managed to put the hazards on so could see a little…

It’s not worth your life, make sure it doesn’t happen again! Put
relays in!!

Take care,
Peter 1973 +2S 130/5

I lost headlights, dashlights, sidelights on the way back from a club meeting on a twisty unlit road, it was so dark I couldnt see to try the hazards, after a few minutes of crawling along by moonlight all the lights came back on. I am trying to trace the fault and found a “gizmo” next to the headlight switch with two heavy wires, one going to the light switch. Is this a thermal cutout and if so how can I test it? Any help would be great, cheers, John.