The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

It's more likely coming through the fresh air vents , use the search engine to find the thread on this very topic but basically, the scuttle drain slots become blocked, allowing rain water in the plenum chamber to rise above the level of the fresh air hoses and the water then drips out where the hoses attach to the stubs behind the bulkhead.
There are several slots at the very bottom of the plenum chamber where its floor section joins the bulkhead, something fine but stiff enough to form is ideal to clear these, I used to do mine with a steel wiper rubber backing strip.

Hi, still not figured where the water is coming from yet, need to take out the wiper motor and have a proper look.

I fitted a CD player into Woddy today. all worked fine when we connected it up - Win!

I have a slight issue with the brake lights though. The driver's side is playing up. It doesn't come on at all when you are driving normally, and when you have the lights on, the side light on the back comes on but goes off when you brake, the passenger side works fine. I was thinking something to do with the earth? Anyone have any ideas as to what this could be?

100% earth fault, either between the bulbholder and the lamp body (first choice) or the earth wire connection to the lamp body.

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

This is the thread about clearing your plenum chamber drain holes.

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1978 Pageant Sprint - the rustomite, 1972 Spitfire IV - sprintfire project, 1968 Valencia GT6 II - little Blue, 1980 Vermillion 1500HL - resting. 1974 Sienna 1500TC, Mrs Weevils big brown.

Thanks tinweevil, I did find that the other day. I bought a cover for her though, so it isn't that major a problem at the moment.

What would I need to check for Steve, I had a good look at everything and it all seemed to be OK, no loose connectors or anything?

This could also be a poor connection on the relay that dims the brake and indicator lamps when the sidelamps are up (yes, you read that correctly, it dims the lamps at night). It's a yellow or grey box mounted behind the trim in the area of the n/s rear wheelarch. When ACU did this same thing, I spent half a day chasing bad earths that weren't there, the fault was with the relay all along. Modern VAG products have a similar device and are claiming the idea as their own!
Lucas one, Bosch nil.

The bulbholders clip out of the lamp from inside the boot, IIRC there is a little brass earth tag which runs along the body of the bulb and attaches to the clips that hold the bulbholder into the lamp. they're quite fragile and easily misplaced or broken resulting in poor or no earth and the "christmas tree syndrome" you describe. If the problem is only in the stop/tail lamp then it is in the bulbholder, however if it also affects the indicator and reverse light then the problem will be the lamp earth which is just a spade connection (uninsulated) which often gets dirty/corroded and stops working.
John, don't want to argue but its unlikely to be the night dimming relay (if its still got one, many have been bypassed/deleted in my experience) as only one side is affected. worth a quick check of the connections though!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

I've wasted many an unhappy hour sorting bad earths on those damn dual filamant bulb holders. They can seem to defy the laws of physics....
but that is what it will be.

Once upon a tme I used to raid the breakers for the better designed ones that used to sit in the rear lights of some Fords....

Jonners

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Note from Admin: sadly Jon passed away in February 2018 but his humour and wealth of knowledge will be fondly remembered by all. RIP Jonners.

I had a leak like that in my Toledo, into the drivers footwell, turned out a little rubber seal/gromit had come loose in the engine bay. It was under the fuses, allowing water to run into the car and under the carpets, could it be this?
Dan

I' m not sure, however, yesterday in Bath it absolutely hammered it down for a while and it was leaking from both sides, seemed to be coming from under the dash and around the air pipe that is under there, which leads me to the scuttle drains as said earlier, but I will check the grommets now you have said that Dan!

There are some very similar ones in Volvo 240s at least the estate versions. I've not tried one but they're probably better made than uncle Joes!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.

This seems to be the general consensus at the moment, haven't had a chance to go and have a look at them yet, its on my list of things to do this week!

Rear lights are now fixed. It was the earth tab running to the holder, wasn't touching it at all! Turned out two of the little tabs that hold the metal into the plastic bulb holder had some how jumped out, so i pushed them back in so that the earth was in contact again.

Thanks guys for the help and pointers!

Bit of an update for you, I know its been a while!

I had been having trouble with the engine lately, it was running really rough, which i put down to an air leak, after researching online and in my manuals. To this end, I bought some new gaskets for the manifold to carb joint. When I fitted these it seemed to be ok for a while. Then the idle got stuck at 1500, which no amount of adjusting or tweaking seemed to fix. I asked the good people on the forum and they told me that worn carb spindles can cause this, among other things, which I ruled out.

I then bought some new carburettors from JPB, for a bargain price of £175 for the two. If I had gone to Rimmer Bros, they would have been £500+! After fitting these, balancing and mixture adjusting, WOD is driving perfectly again. If anything, better than before!

Jon - saw you driving along the Upper Bristol Road this afternoon, just past Argos, and your driver's side brake light isn't working again.