MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Different intensities in the headlight beams

Hi all:

Maybe it's just my imagination...but this evening when I had the lights on...the drivers side headlight seemed noticeably brighter that the passenger side! I had replaced the headlights as a pair and had much earlier replaced the complete wiring harness. I believe I faithfully followed the wiring diagram...so I'm a bit puzzled as to why there is a difference. I know that hooking-up the running light/turn signal backwards causes those lights not to work properly....is it possible that the same is happening with the headlights??

Jim
Jim Rice

Best check if your high/low beams are in sync. Occasionally the wires could have gotten crossed.
Will

In addition to Will's suggestion, it is highly recommended that a ground wire be run directly from the common lug of the lamp to a good solid ground point on the car's frame. For instructions on how to make solid, reliable ground points, see my article at the following web site: http://www.omgtr.ca/technical/General%20Technical/grounding.htm
Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Grounding issue is a good possibility. Had my TD for nearly 10 years and always had yellow low beams. Cound never figure out why. Then someone suggested adding a ground wire and what a difference.

Of course I also was stopped by a police officer for not dimming my brights. I told him I was. When we looked at them, they were on High beam and what I was doing with the dimmer was adding in the low beam so both were on. I did find that I had one of the wires in the dimmer hooked up incorrectly.
Bruce Cunha

Jim
While working on your headlights I suggest you fit relays.
John
John James

... & go the whole hog with Fuses too..? :P
Will

of course!
John James

Thanks for the info.... Will work on it this week-end and see if I have any of the wires crossed and then add the grounding wire. Any suggestions for the particular gage of wire to use?

Dave.. when running a wire from each of the common lugs...can I splice into the respective wires on the harness and then to a ground? I assume so....but you know the old saying about assuming something!

Cheers!

Jim
Jim Rice

Jim - Splices will work fine as long as they are solid (solder or use splice connectors) and then well insulated. It is best to use shrink sleeving for the insulation rather than electricians tape. Electricians tape will dry out in time and come loose or, if it get any oil on it, it will loosen immediately and make a terrible mess as it does so. If you can't get shrink sleeving on the joint (tap splice onto an existing wire) either use some of the brush on insulation or a product known as bi-seal or self vulcanizing tape that streatched when applying and sticks to itself without any adhesive. Good luck - Dave
David DuBois

Hi Jim , I had the same problem and it took me a while to find it . It was the last thing you would think of . I took out the large nut and stud that go's through the pinch bracket running out from the radiator mounting . That is where the ground point is .
Everyone thinks it grounds via. the fender , It may but look at the base of your lamp mount it is sitting on rubber . Anyway I cleaned up the stud and cleaned out the bore and mateing surface and refitted it and TA DA ! both lamps now are bright. Try it it cant hurt.
The way I found it was to put a good volt meter set on like the 5/10 volt range and put one lead on the lamp shell and one on the bracket sticking out of the radiator , I saw a vlotage show up with the lamp on of about 2 volts , just enough to dim the lamp . The 2 volts was the drop across the bad conection at the pinch bolt.
A.L. Gerstle

Good troubleshooting A.L.! I can't agree with the fix though. The ground, whether coming from the fender or the the mounting stud through the bracket, there is a place for corrosion to develop in the future. The more permenant fix is to run a ground wire from a good, solid ground point on the frame, to the lamp socket. Done correctly, no corrosion will form to negate the fix in the future. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Well it turned out to be a bad ground. The bolt that holds the ground wire via the fender was Very loose and a layer of paint (car was recently painted) prevented a solid path for the ground.

A little elbow-grease with some sandpaper and tightening the bolt.....voila !!

Thanks for all your help !

Best regards,

Jim
Jim Rice

This thread was discussed between 20/02/2004 and 29/02/2004

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.