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Freelander - Rear Indicator Modification.

Firstly, this is not a job for the faint hearted, as it involves cutting away sections of the bumper light fitting, and a mistake will result in a trip to the dealers for a new part. Note the bumper light fittings must be from the MY02 model, i.e. clear indicators with an orange bulb for this conversion to be attempted.

Also the way that I did the conversion in the pictures is not the way I would do it now. I would wire a little differently and save time and effort. I have included a section at the end which I would now recommend as the way to wire the indicator/reverse lights.

Lastly this assumes that you have completed the rear/fog light conversion as some of the parts and wiring utilised here are left over from the rear/fog light conversion, and the interior panels are removed as per that conversion instruction.

Sorry for the missing images, I am working on replacements

A new indicator bulb is needed, however to fit into the reverse light bulb holder, one of the retaining lugs needs to be filed down, as shown.
The reverse light is the top one in the light fitting.
fitting rear lightsf.jpg (18381 bytes) Fitting the bulb into the reverse light bulb holder and engaging reverse, will show that the connections are correct and the bulb works. (Note do not start the engine, just turn key to position 2 to illuminate bulbs, or a nasty accident could occur)
The light unit can be refitted to the bodywork, however, the colour of the wire from the reverse light should be noted. On this model MY01 it is a green/brown wire, but may be different on other models.
Note the wires coming from the reverse light into the main loom
In the RHS of the rear (looking forward). The reverse light wire (green/brown) is spliced into two wires (one for each light). The splice is disconnected and a new splice (the two red 8 amp wires) is added. The two wires that were to the reverse lights are now to each indicator and should be spliced into each indicator circuit, taking care to get left to left and right to right.
I rewired the indicator wires into this mass of wires after carefully determining which wires was for the correct indicator. On this MY01 model green/white was for the RHS indicator circuit and green/red was for the LHS indicator circuit.
To confirm that I had correctly wired the indicators I tested them to make sure. By testing RHS,
Then LHS,
Then Hazard Lights (note with rear lights on from previous conversion).

Note, a slight advantage/disadvantage to this conversion is that the resistance of the rear indicator circuit is reduced, which causes the trailer light on the dash to be illuminated. A solution is to fit a different relay rated for the changed resistance (which is usually one fitted when a towbar is fitted).  I have left it as it is that way if the trailer light does not illuminate when I indicate then I have a blown bulb.

So now the indicators have been done but the Freelander has no Reverse Lights.

 

The bumper mounted light fitting is removed and a hole is cut to take the the new bulb holder (what was the foglight bulb holder from the fog/rear light conversion). The cutting of the hole is critical, not only does it have to be of the right diameter (check exactly from the bulb holder) but if it is too near to the indicator fitting then both bulbs cannot be inserted, and if it is too far then the light fitting will not reseat into the bumper.
Note this hole is a little too far away from the indicator bulb fitting and I had to modify the bulb holder  later so that the fitting would reseat in the bumper.

Use a hacksaw blade to form the cut-outs to the circle that will hold the lugs on the bulb holder. Again check thoroughly.

fitting rear lightsd.jpg (20782 bytes) Attach two wires to the new reverse light fitting.
After fitting a clear bulb, insulating the wires and feeding them through the gap in the back of the housing (following the other wires), the light fitting can be reseated back into the bumper.
The two red wires connected to the reverse light circuit can now be fed to either side of the car under the carpet.
One of the red wires is fed through the rubber grommet in the RHS rear floor along with a black earth wire, that is connected to the earthing point.
The other wire (fed under the carpet) is fed through the rubber grommet on the LHS rear floor, again along with a black earth wire, that is connected to the earthing point.
On the LHS underneath the car the red wire is joined to the green wire from the back of the light fitting, the black earth wire connected to the black earth wire from the bulb.
The connected wires are insulated and taped to the rest of the wiring loom out of the way.
On the RHS the same thing is done, Earth to Earth and Red to live.
Again the connections are insulated and taped to the existing wiring loom out of the way.
On testing both reverse lights should illuminate when the reverse gear is selected. (Note rear lights from previous conversion)

Check operation of all lights before refitting panelling in the reverse of removal, if some lights do not work, check bulbs, and then wiring. Note be very careful not to short live wires to bodywork as this may blow fuses in the main fusebox, which would have to be replaced.

As I mentioned at the start, this is the way that I wired the lights, but not the way I would wire them now.

 

I would not split the wires for the reverse lights at the splice where they change from single wire to a double wire.
I would cut the wire to the reverse light here where it goes into the fitting.

The wire from the bulb holder should be extended and spliced into the indicator circuit wire that goes through the grommet in the floor (green/red for LHS and green/ white on RHS on this model). This would enable the reverse lights to work as indicators. The reverse light wire from the loom should be extended and fed through the grommet with a black earthing wire and connected up to the new reverse lights in the bumper as above.

This change to the way I fitted the lights would prevent the need for a long piece of red wire to be fed under the carpet.

As always any problems or questions please email me.

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