Lotus Elan Central

Begun on this thread.

Geoff, now that we've established that it's not just a straight plug and play, and being the wiring expert that you are (creep creep ), any ideas?

I read through the other thread but am still not sure - do you just replace the relay to get the headlamp buzzzer? Does it just cover the exterior lights, or will it buzz if you leave the interior ones one? I managed to flatten the battery recently by inadvertently pulling out the headlamp switch and not noticing that the interior lights had come on.

Enright wrote: any ideas?

Don't leave your lights on?


Sorry Mark, it doesn't cover the interior lights - I've also flattened the battery a couple of times by leaving them on.

Neil, it's on my todo list, but to be honest, it's not a high priority.

hey .. what ...
ive got one on my NA ...

i thought this was normal..

Let’s revive an old thread!

My headlight buzzer ‘disappeared’ a few years ago after I had a new alarm fitted. It’s that time of year when I keep nearly leaving the lights on so I’ve decided to get another.

So, part no 90240664 definitely works. What about no 90240665 ? It didn’t work in Neil’s SE, but would it work in an S2? I only ask because I can get this one cheaper!

Kathryn, I wouldn’t expect the buzzer to work in an SE, unless the wiring had been added retrospectively. That’s because the buzzer relay on our S2s occupies the socket that on the SEs is used for the interior light delay, which is wired completely differently.

All lights on buzzer type relays are basically the same, so the one you reference should be fine. However, you’ll need to be careful that your socket is still properly wired, as your alarm fitter may have “borrowed” one or more of the cables to fit the alarm.

If it were me, I think I’d leave well alone and just fit a replacement buzzer - I believe I have one (non-Lotus) in my spares stash somewhere you could have if you wanted. It’s only three wires to connect: light switch, 12v ignition and interior lights -


Give me a shout if you want to know more.

I discovered my buzzer was missing when I mentioned it to my Lotus specialist a couple of years ago. He didn’t know it had one (fortunately his knowledge of everything else is much better!) He had another S2 in at the time and compared the two, he swapped the buzzer into mine and it worked.
So it’ll work, but it did cross my mind it might interfere with the alarm.

I bet your "Lotus specialist" didn't know they only had 2 jacking points on the S2 Or purple ones were (allegedly !) slower

Back at the time when lights on buzzers were novel, you could buy a 2 wire 12v buzzer and wire it between the lights and the indicators I'm sure you can find the exact wiring fairly easily.

Simon_P wrote:Back at the time when lights on buzzers were novel, you could buy a 2 wire 12v buzzer and wire it between the lights and the indicators I'm sure you can find the exact wiring fairly easily.

I’m not sure you’d want to connect it to the indicators, but I bow to Simon’s greater knowledge. The circuit I suggested in my post above sounds the buzzer if you open a door with the lights on and the ignition off, which is the way I’ve always wired them in the past.

Rambo wrote:I bet your "Lotus specialist" didn't know they only had 2 jacking points on the S2 Or purple ones were (allegedly !) slower

Oddly, I didn't and the car that I realised that this was the case was ..........Palico Purple. Doh!

Psychic Rambo me thinks.....but as I bought the car in Scotland then perhaps not eh?

Just out of interest, can the car be wired so the lights are on when the ignition is live and turned off when the key is removed ? That way you wouldn't need a buzzer

C'mon you electrical whizz kids. I know it sounds very simplistic but can it be done ?

It would need a relay since the headlamps pull more current than the ignition switch is meant to handle, but sure. You would also probably need to use diodes to prevent back-feeding other circuits.

The easiest solution is to use a relay (of appropriate current level) to switch power when the ignition is on and replace the brown feed to the headlight switch. That way you would only have power to the headlight switchl light when the ignition is on. There is probably a way to have both HL Switch AND Ignition Switch control them, but another relay and diodes would probably be needed.

I am suggesting this way so ALL the lights would come on with the ignition and the headlamp switch was turned on, so you wouldn't forget the side+++ other lights were on when you leave the car if they were still on a separate switch.

My concern is if you want to test the lights or just have the side+++ lights on, there would need to be some way other than the ignition to feed the relay trigger to turn on the lights. It could get complicated to prevent cross feeding power. I don't think you want the ignition switch having to be on while testing the lights in the driveway...

I didn't check the wiring diagram for color codes but assumed they use the standard colors I have found on most British cars

Thanks for your reply BCN

It could get complicated depending on how fully accommodating you want to get.

It is easy to do - - in the same way that it is easy to have all 4 headlights on at the same time.....

.... and equally as legal

It isn't illegal in any US States that I am aware of, but I don't see why it would be illegal in the UK. Unless you are required to have the rear fog lights available when parked on the side of the road at night or in bad weather.

Nowt to do with foglights - it is a requirement to have some lights workable without the keys in the car - as leaving keys in is also illegal (as well as stupid).

Side & Headlamps need to work under certain 'parked' conditions, depending on road restrictions and time of day etc etc.