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MG MGA - LED for Turn Signal Indicator

I just spent the better part of the afternoon refurbing my turn signal switch. It's amazing how many wrong ways there are to reconnect just three wires even after taking a pre-disassembly photo and labeling the wires but that's been conquered.

The band on my timing piston is mostly gone so I decided to just eliminate the timing function and rely on memory to tell me to turn the signal off. Everything now works including the indicator light but I wish it were much brighter. Toward that end, does anyone know if there is a green LED replacement build for the indicator light?

BTW, I have LEF front and rear turn signal lamps and an electronic flasher. No other changes from stock.

Thanks.

Jud
J K Chapin

I installed a universal led turn signal indicator in my A; there are many sources for these units: ebay; Speedway; Summit Racing; etc. Some led's are polarity sensitive, others you can use for either negative or positive ground. I moved my indicator light in between the speedo & tach for ease of view.


Nick Kopernik

I couldn't find a direct replacement green LED from any of the usual suppliers so I bought an 11mm green panel 12v LED from Amazon. The bezel around the LED just fits inside the aluminum bulb socket holder so I was able to keep the original green jewel and ring in the dashboard. The green LED lights up the green jewel wonderfully. I found a plastic cap that fits tightly in the aluminum bulb holder and that holds the LED unit firmly in place.
J K Chapin

Well, I thought I had this thing licked but you never really know 'til you do a test drive. The turn signals work perfectly. The indicator is nice and bright and also works perfectly EXCEPT that it works all the time. It never shuts off. When I was putting the set up back in the dashboard I noticed that the center lug of the bulb holder showed voltage all the time but I thought (hoped) that that was just a faulty meter reading or user error. No such luck. Apparently an LED between the electronic flasher and ground passes enough current to keep the flasher going continually.

I'm scratching my head but I've got to do something because continuous flashing isn't any better than no flashing to remind me to turn off the signal. I hate to revert to the incandescent bulb but that might be the right answer.

Jud
J K Chapin

I bought a complete for an MGA 1600 from Classic Car LEDs here in uk and no problems. I am also thinking of relocating my warning light perhaps to the parking light location which would mean I could see it!

Paul
Paul Dean

Jud,
I don't know the MGA wiring at all but you should be able to wire the tell-tale light to flash so it might be you've shuffled or knitted your wiring.

The Classic Car LEDs site just shows the tell-tale as standard GLB987 (M.E.S. 987) (2H4732), in green. - https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/collections/12-volt-collection/products/glb987-e10mes-green-8-smd-led-flat-bulbs-dashboard-gauge-lighting

Are you sure you got the correct bulb holder and bulb when you bought that LED replacement unit.
Nigel Atkins

Or you could incorporate a buzzer in the circuit, no need to drill a hole in the dash.
Bolney Coupe

I went the buzzer route a couple of months ago and so pleased that I did. It can be muffled if felt to be too loud and if you can't hear it when you turn the switch to go left or right you know your indicators aren't working!
Tim Prime

You can get the electronic flasher units that make the clicking noise but obviously it depends where they're locate to how well or not you might hear them.
Nigel Atkins

Thanks Nigel. Mine makes a clicking noise but it's located in the engine compartment so I can hear it only when the motor is off.

I did a test this afternoon. I connected the LED in series with the original incandescent bulb. I had the bulb before the LED but I don't think the order matters (I last took EE in 1965 and we learned all about vacuum tubes). The LED flashed brightly when the turn signals were on and flashed dimly when the turn signals were off. The incandescent bulb did not flash at all. This tells me that I need a resister in series with the LED but I haven't the foggiest idea how much resistance I need. My humble attempt at Ohm's Law assuming a 3 watt incandescent bulb and 12 volts yields 48 ohms. Perhaps doubling that to 100 ohms would put me in the right ballpark. I guess the wattage capacity of the resister also matters but I suspect it would be fairly low - perhaps 5 - 10 watts. Any suggestions or corrections to my guesstimates will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Jud
J K Chapin

Hi Tim

Where did you get your buzzer? See you on 21st.

Paul
Paul Dean

Paul
You can get a buzzer from Autoelectricsupplies. Just put buzzer in the search bar.
Bolney Coupe

Paul. I bought mine from Autoelectric Supplies.

Dashboard buzzer. 12V loud and urgent tone. - 140403 (each) £8.05 1 £8.05
Delivery £3.50
VAT £2.31
Total £13.86

It is loud and so some kind of muffling is essential. Blutac did the job for me! Dead easy to install.


Tim
Tim Prime

I removed the Lucas pneumatic switch and attempted to refurb it. The collar (leather? rubber? whatever?) is completely shot so it won't hold air. It is, therefore, simply a momentary switch which is not desirable. I have replaced it with a nice on-off-on toggle switch which is very convenient and easy to operate. It doesn't turn off automatically so a bright flashing telltale is essential. The LED behind the green original jewel works wonderfully with only one minor drawback: It continues to flash for about 30 seconds after the switch is off. The flashing eventually dims to a barely perceptible level so it is acceptable.

I'd like to refurb the Lucas pneumatic switch but I don't know where to get just the replacement ring (collar?) that forms the air seal. I'll search the archives to see if this has already been answered but, in the meantime, does anyone know where I can get just the inner pneumatic sealing ring?

Thanks.

Jud
J K Chapin

Jud

A batch of new leather washers was made by someone in UK about 2 years ago. They may all have been sold or there may be one or two remaining.

I do not have further details but a Brit reading this may remember.

Bolney Coupe

This thread was discussed between 22/07/2021 and 11/08/2021

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