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MG MGB Technical - no turn signals

Hoping someone can help, pleeeaaase. I have headlights, front marker lights, rear lights. The hazard lights work, but my turn signals don't. I also do not have a horn althought there is power through the purple wire. Is it possible that the turn signal stalk on the side of the zsteering column is gone? I do get the high beams and high beam flash from the stalk. I have not installed the side lamps yet, do these need to be attached to complete a circuit? I've tested and tried everything i can think of, so now i turn to the gurus of the mg world, who all reside inside my computer.

Thanks

Ken
70 B
Ken Harris

Ken, first things first, please let us out of your computer!

There should be another flasher unit (besides the one for the hazards) located up under your dash - on the passenger side I believe. Is that flasher good? The factory unit was a small rectangular one and can be replaced with a modern round unit. Try swapping it with the hazard flasher for starters.

Jeff Schlemmer

Sorry forgot to mention, I have checked the flasher unit and it works fine. I even switched it for a new one, and still no luck

Ken
Ken Harris

One thing that can create this problem is a Hazard switch that does not return correctly. The direction signals depend on the Hazard switch completing the circuit when in the off position.. Ceck your wiring schematic and you will see the connection. Just jump across it and then check your direction lights.
Sandy Sanders
conrad sanders

Ken,

The turn signals in my 68 failed. I traced the problem back to the switch. There's a common circuit that feeds power to one side or the other when the switch is moved. That circuit opened somewhere inside the switch and as a result I had no voltage to either side's lights.

Bill
Bill Boorse

Have you checked the common ground in the trunk (boot) near the boot latch? A common source of no rear turn signals.
Frank

Do the lights glow without flashing? If so then it could be the common ground as Frank suggests. But if they don't even glow check you have 12v on the green and light-green/brown at the turn flasher. If not the hazard warning switch is probably the culprit, try flicking it on and off a few times. If that does it it is worth dismantling (in a poly bag!) and cleaning the switch, the old grease gets very stiff with little use. If you have 12v at the flasher unit check again at the light-green/brown at the turn switch, and the green/white and green/red with the switch operated. If there check the connectors by the fusebox where the green/white and green/red loop out and back in the main loom and connect to the rear loom.
Paul Hunt

what Paul says or just jump or bypass the switch by connecting the appropriate two wires to see if works then you know if it is the switch. Paul certainly knows more details than I do but this did work for me to test it.

Other solution....don't turn...or get a green car.
J.T. Bamford

The saga continues. I jumped the 2 green wires at the Hazard switch. Now when i turn on the signals i get the hazards. I am getting power where i am supposed to. How do i check to see if the ground is ok?

Ken
Ken Harris

The only grounds are at the lights (unless you have an after-market turn flasher unit), disconnections here will affect both hazards and turn signals, high-resistance connections (up to a certain point) will allow the hazards to work but cause the turn signals to glow but not flash.

I don't understand what you mean when you say "Now when i turn on the signals i get the hazards", the lamps are the same for both.
Paul Hunt

Sorry Paul, what i meant was When i turn on the turn signals, all 4 lights flash, as if i had turned on the hazards.

Ken
Ken Harris

Then I suspect you have the hazard switch connected upside down, and possibly the hazard flasher connected to the turn signal wiring.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 26/04/2004 and 30/04/2004

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