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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Indicator problem- non- MG

Posting for ideas here although it has no MG content, as I cannot find any advice elsewhere.

The car is my daughter's SEAT Ibiza - its a VW based vehicle. The dash warning light flashes really fast when the nearside indicator is used. One would imagine that this was caused by a faulty indicator bulb, but the all work fine, and at the right speed even when the dash light is going berserk. What makes it harder to trace is that the fault itself is intermittent. much of the time they work fine. There is a suggestion that it happens after driving a few miles, and not initially when starting out, so possibly temperature related. Hazards work fine.

I have tried replacing bulbs, despite them being OK. And I have checked and cleaned the earthing cables to the light units although it doesn't seem to me that e fault lies there as the indicators themselves all work as they should.

Any suggestions how to trace this fault?
Guy Weller

It does sound a bit strange.

My initial thought was earthing, but you've already looked at that.

Have you tried pressing the brake pedal and turning on side lights together with the indicators and looking for any strange happenings, particular with the rear lights?
Dave O'Neill 2

I forgot to mention, there is a very useful forum for VW=Audi group cars...

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/
Dave O'Neill 2

Thanks Dave. I had forgotten all about that forum - eben though l already registered there! Gleaned a few ideas to try checkeing out.
Guy Weller

Hi Guy,


What year is this car and does it flash too fast on the faulty side when the hazard flashers are used?


Lots of recent cars no longer have a flasher unit as we know it but are worked by the body control module or some other control unit.


Regards Steve
SR Smith 1

Hi Steve,
its a late 2009 model. Hazards all work fine.
Dash indicator intermittently goes into "overdrive" but the external indicator lights continue to operate at the proper speed. Weird!

I thought it through and decided that maybe the fault was with the indicator stalk switch. I dismantled it to see if there was anything hat I could clean or repair there, but its all a sealed in unit. However, having removed and then reconnected the unit today, it now seems to be working OK. Only time will tell properly though as it was an intermittent fault anyway.
Guy W

Hi Guy W.
Sorry but I have no idea about your indicators, but good luck with them.
I was making contact to ask about the old chestnut of the concentric clutch slave cylinder.
I have my gearbox on the bench but my engine is away at the moment. I am using the green bellows ford cylinder.
The centre bore is not large enough to go over the bearing guide.
Did you keep the bearing guide or remove it?

Also do you have any dimensions for the spacer for the concentric slave spacer?
Any help greatly appreciated as after a long build all is moving very quickly to finish it.
Slowly

Hello.
Yes, l cut the guide tube off and just used the circular base part as that houses the input shaft oil seal.
The input shaft fits with clearance through the middle of the ford concentric slave which has its own inbuilt guide tube.
Cannot off hand remember the size of the spacer l made, but will go and look for the sketch l did. It will however vary depending on the bell housing and the clutch assembly that you are using.
Guy W

OK, have found my sketch. The spacer was machined out of a block of alloy. Finished sizes marked as 110mm diameter, X 43mm thickness(front to back) with a note that this will vary depending on clutch cover and bellhousing being used. A bit of measurement is needed to calculate the thickness so that the slave has the right travel and allowance for clutch wear, without risk of "overthrow".

The rear face is concave so as to fit over the domed front of the original Ford component which holds the input shaft oil seal, but with the guide tube cut off.The front face has a recess machined into it to receive the stub that protrudes from the back of the concentric slave unit. I left a 1mm ridge around the edge of this so that when the 3 bolts that mount the slave are done up, the rubber seal on the back of the slave is compressed. Sounds a bit complicated, but I machined this on a 70 year old lathe and it was virtually my first attempt at any machining of this sort.

The only real difficulty I had was in finding a pipe fitting for the bleed side of the slave. The threaded connection is smaller than any normal hydraulic pipe fittings that I could find. In the end I cobbled something from some pipes off an old diesel injector from a car engine. I have since seen someone else post a photo of a much neater installation using some braided SS hoses with the right fittings.


Guy W

Hi Guy,
Thank you very much.

The guide info allows me to start on the other, and the descriptions good. The dimensions will at least allow me to source the material!
Thanks again.
Slowly

Snail-like in NI, {;-)
If you give me your e-mail address I will scan and send you my sketch.

Coincidence, or otherwise, I found that the distance moved by the Fiesta concentric for a single pedal stroke of a 1275 master cylinder was about 12mm, - exactly the right amount. The other relevant consideration on mineis that the design is such that the slave is in constant, though very light, contact with the clutch fingers. It therefore spins continually, unlike the normal Spridget arrangement. This may sound like it would wear out, but that isn't an issue. And thinking about it, it seems more sensible than having a release bearing which is continually going from zero up to maybe 5,000 to 6,000 rpm and down again, every time you change gear, which sounds pretty stressful to me!
Guy W

Hi Guy.
Speed of driving, wok, and looks are all snail-like!
Email address is richardmccracken"at"btinternet"dot"com

Many thanks
Slowly

Guy,
if the fault is restricted to the dash light, is it possible the fault is somewhere in the dash wiring or PCB?
Jeremy Tickle

Could well be, Jeremy.
At the moment I am waiting for feed-back from my daughter over the next day or two. Having removed and replaced the stalk switch yesterday - but not actually done anything with it - the fault seemed to have disappeared. Possibly this was enough to clean and re-seat dodgy electrical connection. So, fingers crossed, it may be fixed.

NI - I will get it done and e-mailed tomorrow, when I have access to a scanner.
Guy W

Guy,
Could I also hijack this thread to request a copy of the same info please (as related to our discussion in my own thread of a few days ago)?
Thanks
Glynn321 at talktalk dot net
Glynn Williams

This thread was discussed between 25/10/2014 and 27/10/2014

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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