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MG MGB Technical - Strange Signal Light Problem

Hi All.
I went for a rare night drive tonight and I noticed that my right dash blinker indicator had stopped working, but I could still hear the flasher ticking. I checked the signal lights on the outside with park/headlights on and they all work with the expected on-off flash except for the front right. It merely pulses dim-bright. With the park/headlights off all exterior signal lights appear to work normally, but still no dash blinker.
Next I tried the hazzard lights. With no park/headlights they work perfectly, all in sync, but still no right dash blinker. Now the strange part. With the park/headlights on I get the same dim/bright on the front right but it is completely out of sync with the flashers on the other corners of the car. (Still no dash blinker)
What could be the cause of this? Bad bulb, bad ground, bad flasher? Where would be the best place to start? Could a burnt dash bulb be causing this??

Thanks. Tim. 1971 MGB
Tim Mayor

Hi Tim.

I believe you have two separate problems :

1) Dashboard indicator lamp failure, try changing the bulb first.

2) Poor earth connection on the right parking / front indicator lamp.

Don

Don

This is usually a simple problem --

Check all bulbs and their contacts in the sockets

check all connections -- to insure they are tight and clean

check any and all grounding points.

The flasher unit is cheap and readily availabe at your local auto supply shop -- it wouldn't hurt to replace that little bugger.

Just follow the wiring diagram, check for good contacts and grounds. It could also be a bulb getting ready to blow. It's one of those hunt and peck jobs, but the experience you get from working it out will help you with future eletrical problems.

Just take a couple of hours and go through the directional circut. It's stuff like this that leads us to fall in love with the motor car.


good luck, no matter which way go.

glg
glg

Definitely a bad ground conenction either between bulb and holder, holder and light unit (heard of a couple of those) or light unit and body. Chrome bumper front light units and all rear light units only ground through their physical connections. If you use a voltmeter to measure the voltage (with respect to a known good ground) on the bulb casing, holder, and light unit base where you see a voltage the bad connection is between there and the body.

I'd say the repeater lamp is either a blown bulb or broken connection to it.
Paul Hunt 2

Hi everone and thanks for all the responses!
The only thing I've checked so far is the dash indicator lamp. It was burnt out. An easy fix, but hard to get to. Slender arms would be an asset when working under the dash!
Sounds like the other problem is likely a bad ground. I will hunt that down soon. Tim
Tim Mayor

This thread was discussed between 03/09/2006 and 07/09/2006

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