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MG MGB Technical - Electrical Problem in 1971 B

Hi! Have a 1971 MGB in near perfect shape... except about 3 months ago, on the way to a show in Vero Beach, it began to hesitate BIG TIME. Pull over checked all wires and it seemed to be slightly better, but not by much. When I got home, I replaced the Sport Coil, Plugs, Wires, replaced the electronic ignition with a spare I keep for emergencies, replaced the "floating" plate within the distributor itself, added a second ground strap from the AC Compressor Case to chassis, checked the ground and positive leads on the battery and tightened up all wire connections I could find. Car idles great, solid, even when accelerated. Only sputters while on the road. Seems to be most noticable when I am on a bumpy road. Tach swings wide when initially turning on the ignition keay. Tach also begins to swing wide and the ignition light flashes on dash at the same time while driving! I swapped out the Tach & the same characteristics show up. Last night I took it for a drive... which I usually don't do at night... and noticed that the headlights and dash lights would flicker and dim about the same time that the ignition light flashes, tach swings and engine hesitates. Obviously it appears to be an electrical problem... but where? I think I've checked or replaced any possible problem areas.
Next step, please?

Bart
BartTS

Check the brown wire on the starter solenoid.

It is attached with a push-on tab connector and it sometimes shakes just
loose enough to cause all sorts of "gremlins" to appear.

Disconnect the battery before fooling with it - or POW! ...bad hair day.
Daniel Wong

Check the starter motor connections in particular the feed to the ignition switch. I had a similar problem a few weeks back. In the end the car wouldn't even start. It turned out to be oil contamination at the starter connections. A clean up and reconnection did the trick.

Hopefully it will be just as simple for you.

Regards,

Phil.
Phil B

Bart, check the bullet connections at the ignition switch. Had a similar problem on my 73B. It would just stop while crusin down the hiway. After playing with everything I could think of i found a bad connection at the switch. Cleaned the connectors and pluged them in tight and the problem was solved.
Doug Gordon

This thread was discussed on 19/07/2002

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