So, on the way home tonight, Murphy’s offside headlamp failed. Full beams were OK, but the main beam was dead.

Assuming this was a failed headlamp bulb, (and I was not pleased given I’d only recently fitted the Osram Night Breakers), I got home, had dinner, and went outside around 20:30 to change the bulb.

Having changed the bulb, the main beam still did not work, so out came the multimeter…

Something was not right, not right at all!

I spent a while checking all connections, buzzing out cables and measuring voltages, and things seemed fine in the engine bay, but not at the headlamp connector itself. So, I eventually peered under the wheel arch where the rear of the headlamp is, and what did I find… a damaged bunch of cables and crimp connectors, one of which was burnt out.

Why are things never straightforward?!?!

It would appear that over the years, the original cables had been “modified”, with up to four crimp connector at various points along a run of less that half-a-metre. These went from the engine bay to the headlamp connector, which still had some of the original cabling for joining to. To problem was that the crimps to the original headlamp cables were under the wheel arch, exposed to the elements, and damaged/corroded over time. This had caused a short, and the wires for the main beam to burn and break.

Cables with multiple crimps