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MG MGB Technical - lights or lack of...

At advice from off here, I put some halogen headlamps in my 77 bgt tonight.

The old ones had the sidelights taped up out of the way! which I didn't think was good!

Anyway, I put in new headlights and sidelamps, the headlamps work fine as do the interior lights, but I have no rear lights or sidelights now,

Any ideas as I am using the car at the minute and its dark when I come home at night.
John Collins

Isn't it amazing what an hour in the pub and a couple of pints does for you?

Thinking about the original sidelights, they were in a plastic body that should have fitted into the sidelight, but my new lights used a metal bodied light that fits into a rubber sleeve in the light housing. I guessed that the sidelight + its exposed teminals may be touching the metal inner housing of the headlamp backing, causing a short.

I've just checked fuses and the headlamp feed had blown, replacing it was ok, until I switched on the lamps, then it blew again, So tomorrow, buy more fuses and take headlamps out and insulate the sidelamp, I'm probably going to use an old inner tube from a bike to make a sleeve to cover it, but leave both ends free so as to allow any moisture a way out.
John Collins

No headlamp fuses, but the parking lights do have them. If only one fuse had blown (out of the top two) then something that side is grounding, and probably in the headlight as that is where you were working last :o)

BTW, I hope you are now powering the new headlamps through relays and not 30-year-old switches, wiring and connectors? Fitting uprated (if that is what they are) headlamps can cause these to fail suddenly, or at best you won't be getting full brilliance out of your new lights. Have a look at http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/wn_electricsframe.htm and click on 'Lighting' and 'Uprated Headlamps - Relays and Fuses'.

"Other electrical advice web sites are available"
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 23/11/2004 and 24/11/2004

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.