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MG MGF Technical - Unused connector

Did the cigar lighter illumination mod at the weekend. There is a spare connector which I can see through the hole once the ashtray is removed. The connector is black with a central yellow plug, but isn't connected to anything! Any ideas what this is for, it appears to come from between the gear cables. Obvious first thoughts were reversing lights or handbrake warning light, but these are working fine.
Lloyd Eagle

Sorry folks, I'm new here. Got my P reg VVC just 3 weeks ago.

Didn't sign off on my first message.

Thanks

Lloyd. Swindon.
Lloyd Eagle

Hi Lloyd, welcome to the club! :o)

Regarding that connector... pass. Black with a yellow centre?

The only suggestion I can think of is that this is the loom connector for the heated rear screen (should you have a hard top fitted). The loom connectors are all there- all you need to do is buy a switch and a relay, and connect everything up - easy-peasy.

I don't remember the plug having a yellow centre though...
Rob Bell

>There is a spare connector which I can see through
>the hole once the ashtray is removed.

I'm not sure, could it be for the Jap seatbelt sensors?

> Black with a yellow centre
Unfortunatly thats not very much information, most of the plugs are designed like this, the yellow bit is a locking tab which holds the wires in.
To trace the wire we need to know the colours of the wires it was attached to.
Will Munns

Thanks Rob & Will.

I'll have another look later to see what colour the wires are.

The previous owner had a hardtop/switch/relay fitted as an option when he bought the car, so I would assume that they would have connected it up. I could always get the hardtop out and connect it up to see if the switch lights up.

Thanks again - more later, the car's at home.

Lloyd.
Lloyd Eagle

>>I could always get the hardtop out and connect it up to see if the switch lights up.<<
I don't think you need to connect the hardtop for the switch to light up - although you might want the hardtop in this weather anyway :-)

Steve
Steve

the hardtop wire is on the rear parcel shelf, not between the seats, I dont think it could reach there.
Will Munns

My switch lights up without hardtop fitted if its any help.
D Jamieson

A bit of an condrum then Lloyd.

If this cable were part of the Supplementary Restraint System (SRS) the warning light would illuminate on the dash. If the wires are yellow however, then it *IS* part of the pretensioner SRS loom...

The only other thing I can think of is that it may be the cable to the interior volumetric sensor used by the alarm...

I think that Will's right - the wiring colour codes should reveal the true identity of this mystery plug!
Rob Bell

What about an un-ravelled blipper antenna from the console.....wrong colour and not too sure what the plug is on the end of it unless the original antenna has been extended with some off-cut.....
tim woolcott

"the hardtop wire is on the rear parcel shelf, not between the seats, I dont think it could reach there."

Thanks Will, I know that, just wondering if it may have been part of the loom not the actual one that plugs up to to the hardtop.

Anyway, as you rightly said earlier, the cable colours might help reveal all. I'll be whipping the ashtray out as soon as I get home.

Thanks.

Lloyd.
Lloyd Eagle

Apart from the big multiway* connectors I'm pretty sure there are no other connectors to butt wires, (not like in the midget....) there are a few blocks to splice wires, but these tend to be 20 wires of the same colour into a white plastic box screwed onto the body.

Will
*I think there is one between the engine bay loom and the car loom, but I haven't seen it myself
Will Munns

Okay folks, I've taken the ashtray out. The socket is really tight to the loom and there ain't a lot of movement due to the gear selector cables running over the loom.

Best I can tell is that one wire is solid white and the other solid green, neither appear to be striped. I could only see a couple of mm of wire just as the wires enter the back of the connector.

The loom is wrapped in black tape, there is a seperate loom wrapped in yellow tape running parallel along the centre tunnel. I'm guessing that one of these looms goes to the factory fitted CD changer in the boot - I did say "guessing"!

The car is a November 96 1.8VVC.

Lloyd Eagle

An easy one gents.

It is for the seatbelt warning light fitted on the Japanese version of the car.

I have retro fitted it to my UK speced car a couple of years ago.

Julian
Julian Foulger

Thanks Julian, and nice one Will, that was your first suggestion, there's no substitute for experience eh!

Julian it would be good to see how you managed to retro fit this on your car. Drivers seat belt only? or both?....the darkside beckons!!

I've been ploughing through the archives for the past couple of weeks, and haven't come accross anyone else wondering what this connector is for. Surprising considering the number of threads/messages regarding the cigar lighter illumination mods. Must be well hidden by the gear selector cables on most cars.

Thanks again.

Lloyd.
Lloyd Eagle

Buy yourself the Wiring Diagrams from Rover to understand the wiring colours. It shows the unique bits of the Japanese wiring v UK.

Drivers side only and you order a Japanese Spec seat buckel.

You will need to get a new instrument loom which goes behind the instrument panel but the biggest problem was that you have to add a solder line on the instrument PCB. The fiche and parts list supplied by Rover do not show a unique Japanese instrument PCB (even went back to the factory who flatly refused to help me)and yet there is an additional connector (ie light) required on the PCB. This is why having the wiring diagram is a must.AND always spend 99% of your time pre- planning and 1% doing!

For your information I was the first to discover that you could wire up the cigar lighter (see achives) and to my knowledge the only one to retro fit a Japanese catalytic converter with the temperature sensor to a UK speced car.I'm less sure whether I was the first to fit rear speakers to my Mark 1 MGF other than to say I did it within about 2 months after the early pre launch photos were issued of the mod that Rover had done. I raise this because being first is not always best but I did all four mods with no guidance from this Board - you now have a little more info than I did so you should be able to do it.All parts available via normal Rover ordering system.

All this means everything lights up when I turn the ignition switch. Very sad and something I don't admit to off this Board!

Julian
Julian Foulger

Thanks for the info Julian.

The wiring diagrams were already on my "shopping list" which for some reason totals more than available funds - not surprising with all the goodies available for the F.

"All this means everything lights up when I turn the ignition switch. Very sad and something I don't admit to off this Board!"

Couldn't agree less on this, good on yer, if the Japs get all these lights, then why shouldn't we!

Lloyd.
Lloyd Eagle

Hi there,

Whilst my car was in pieces over the weekend, I too came across this connector and took some photo's of it - I'll post them on the web somewhere this evening.

Colin.
Colin

The Yellow wrapped wires are for the seatbelt pretensioners, Anything yellow is attached to explosives!
Will Munns

So where is the explosive bit on the Alarm System - that has a yellow wire hanging loose!

Ted
Ted Newman

Ted, reminds me of 007's exploding Lotus! ;o)
Rob Bell

Gah, you're so picky. Anything attached at both ends and in a yellow cover is attached to explosives.

Will
Cut the red wire!
Will Munns

I concur, with the exception of the blipper arial, all yellow cabling is part of the SRS system and there are explosives in the seatbelt pre-tensioners and airbag modules.

Disconnect the battery (both terminals) and leave for a good 20mins / half an hour before disconnecting any of these wires, the SRS system has a battery back up which takes time to discharge and if there is any residual current in the SRS loom, there is a risk of triggering the system if tampered with.

SF
Scarlet Fever

and if you don't allow enough time go to :- http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bartram1/Guess.htm to see what happens to you.

Ted
Ted Newman

However I have plugged and unplugged without disconnecting the battery, and "people here" have had dodgy wiring that has been ratleing loose and no-one has ever reported one of these going up on them. so don't panic if you forget to wait. it's a trade off safty/fast?
Will Munns

Me too Will, but according to the workshop manual there IS a risk (however small). Some of this i suppose is to stop MGR being sued, and being even more cynical, you could also say that this is an extra 20 minutes of time @ £XX.XX per hour on the customers' bill! But i feel if you are doing the work yourself, it is better safe than sorry.

SF
Scarlet Fever

Ted,

:-)

SF
Scarlet Fever

I've posted some pictures of this connector (hope I've got the right one :¬) at the following link for anyone that's interested:

http://www.geocities.com/greystoke01/Motor/Page1.htm

Colin.
Colin

I'm quite newbie also, but....

Could that yellow female thing be an E.T. being that has grew just in a full moon night?

;)

sorry!!!!!
Spinder00

This thread was discussed between 16/05/2003 and 20/05/2003

MG MGF Technical index

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