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MG MGA - Headlights

The driver side headlight will not work on low beam. The other side works on hi and low.
Bought a new light and installed it with the same results. Checked the three wires inside the socket which were a little loose, but no luck. Got out my meter to check for voltage but I am not exactely sure which wires should or should not have juice. Thanks in advance . Bill
Bill Mason

Bill,
The three wires to the headlight should be blue/white, blue/red, and black. Black is the ground, blue/white is 12v for the high beams, and blue/red is 12v for the low beams. The wires come from the main harness down the right side of the car. They have connectors near the right front of the radiator. One branch routes to the right headlight. The other branch routes along the bracket that holds the bonnet latch, then to the left headlight. You need to check at all the connectors to see where you are losing voltage on the blue/red wire. Possibly just a loose or dirty bullet connector.

Jeff

Jeff Schultz

Bill,
Likely to be a bullet sleeve between the right side and the left. Be aware that they do have a tendancy to split the little metal sleeve that is inside the rubber sleeve, causing a significant loss in current-carrying ability. It is also worthwhile to disconnect the wires, use a rifle-cleaning brush in .177 (BB) or .22 to clean the inside of the connector and then insert some dielectric grease prior to reassembly to keep it clean in future.
David "not mentioning relays..." Lieb
David Lieb

See here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/circ_d.htm
Check connection of the blUe/Red wires in the snap connector at LF corner and in the 3-way connector at RF corner. The problem will be in a bullet connector on the the blUe/Red wire running from right to left.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 09/09/2008 and 10/09/2008

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