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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Fuse box prob?

Hi

Been having a few electrical problems with my 79 1500 midget.

Use a local mechanic (he is god and trust him).

The connections around the fuses keep going, therefore losing the petrol pump and the car clonking out

My mechanic, has cleaned the connections and still it happens. Now suggesting a new fuse box. It's only 15 quid, but will that do the job?

Can I replace the box? (I'm a complete novice) or should I leave it to him?

Hoping this fixes the problem as has been going on for a loooong while now,
Brad
bk dyson

Brad,
If I remember rightly the metal spring clips that hold the fuses are connected to the spade connectors on the base of the plastic housing by brass rivets. These do eventually corrode and loosen up and can give intermittent connections. Although cleaning them up and taping the rivet heads tight again might solve it, at only £15 for a new one that is probably your best bet. Fitting the replacement is an easy job; just transfer one wire at a time if you can, or label them before swapping over to avoid getting them muddled up. A few digital photos also provides a useful safety reference.

OTOH, your "God fitter" would fit the new box in just a few minutes, and then you can blame him if it still doesn't work!
Guy

Clean the rivet area and then with a touch of solder you are on the way.This way the connection will be good once more.
darnoc31

I replaced mine with 2 4-blade fuse boxes... if you do same, don't forget that the std box has each pair of 'input' terminals connected together - this will need to be replicated on the new boxes. Also, some fuse connections are doubled-up, so e.g. I have 2 fuses where originally there's only one serving 2 wires...

Don't forget also the in-line fuse for wiper... this should also be moved to new box. I have pic if needed.

A
Anthony Cutler

Brad

Agree with the above but are you sure it's causing a fuel problem, my 1500 Midget has a mechanical pump. You've probably got a ballast ignition system fitted these can cause problems with similar symptoms.

Bob
R.A Davis

if you replace the fuse box with an original be carefull not to fit it upside down or the linked connectioms will be wrong

it depends how bad your present fuse box is whether it's best to repair or replace - yours doesn't sound great

in the original fusebox the original fuses are a very slightly different size to the modern glass fuses - the original usually have a piece of paper inside them stating '17a continuos' '35a (and another word that I can't remember at the moment)'
Nigel Atkins

I've repaired several fuse blocks by cleaning in CLR and then soldering the rivets to the spade connectors. I recommend soldering new ones as a preventitive measure. It would be good to know what the blown fuses look like, an over current will usually cause the element to seperate in the middle, a poor connection on one of the fuse clips will cause heat that can melt the connection on that end of the fuse.
B Young

I wanted to separate the fuses and get the car running on fuses I can pick up in an emergency from the local Shell garage so I fitted a pair of six way blade fuseboxes.

One for ignition controlled circuits and one for battery supplied ones.

That was a fairly easy "one day in the sun job".

I arranged to have one side of each fuse box connected with a busbar so there is room to run items that need to be constantly powered and allow for items needing to be fused

Tidied up my wiring a tad too

You should have seen it before, even mice refused to nest in it out of personal pride...


Bill1

I am the same as Bill and think fuse boxes should be made simple. Mine are 2 fuse boxes with blade type fuses (pocket fulls at each visit to scrap yards) one gang for ignition on and one gang as always live.

I rewired my car with these 2 boxes and seperated all circuits to help with reliability and fault finding


Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Thanks for the advice everyone. Acquired a new fuse box for a mere 13 English pounds, so will put that on and hopefully it will resolve the issue!
bk dyson

Brad,
Although everyone has advised about the fuse box as that is what you asked about, Bob (Davis) is the only one to point out that fuel pump problems won't be caused by faulty electrics.
The fuel pump on your 1979 car is fully mechanical so if that really is failing, then unfortunately fixing the fuse box isn't going to solve your basic problem. Unless perhaps the fuel pump has been replaced with an aftermarket one at some stage in its life?
Guy

Robert

I'm intrigued, what's the small device with the clear plastic pipe behind the heater. I thought it could be a washer pump but I can only see 1 pipe.

Bob
R.A Davis

Hi Bob

That little device is a pressure switch that is used to determine throttle position as an input to my Programable ignition system (it acts similar to the vac connection on normal ignition systems)
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

This thread was discussed between 03/01/2012 and 05/01/2012

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