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MG MGA - Dipper Switch may burn your wiring har

Heads up to a faulty new part with possible serious consequences. Some new no-name dipper switches have an internal fault that will short power to ground when depressed. If held in the depressed position it could burn up your main wiring harness. The part is widely used on many brands of British cars, especially in the 1950 to 1965 production period.

The switch is patterned after Lucas type FS22. but it is not a Lucas part. It is a replacement part for BMC part number 1G2007. Known bad parts came from Moss Motors (171-900) and Scarborough Faire. They have been notified. Moss has placed a stop on sales of the part pending investigation.

If you have one of these no-name dipper switches, use a continuity tester or ohm meter to check resistance from the center input terminal to the housing when the switch is depressed. Check it through at least two switching cycles, because it only shorts on every second cycle of the switch. If you have one of the switches that has this ground fault, please let me know, and also the name of the supplier if possible.

For pictures and more information see here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/faulty/ft063.htm

Best regards,

Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
http://MGAguru.com
Barney Gaylord

Moss claimed they fixed it (four years ago) with a plastic insulator inside the switch. But now the part is bad again (or maybe still bad). I have had three new Moss dipper switches fail in as many months. They lasted five weeks, one week, and five weeks respectively. The first two became very reluctant to switch, requiring repeated kicks to get it done (while blinding the oncoming drivers). The most recent one as well as being reluctant to switch, is also shorting to ground fairly often (like every 3 to 5 kicks). This leaves you with no lights at all (including no dash lights and no tail lights) until a successive kick might shift it back to either high or low beams. Aside from being dangerous to all on the road, it also has the potential to burn the main harness and possibly cause a fire. If you were to click the dipper switch when lights were off, and then turn the lights on later, it could be shorted to ground and burn the harness.

I had previously returned the last two failed switches to Moss in Goleta (personally delivered) with recommendation that someone should open the switches to determine the cause of the problem. I seriously doubt that anyone did that. The most recent failure caught me in the dark woods in northern Yukon Territory, Canada, with no recourse but to leave it on low beam, making it very difficult to drive in the dark (very slow going to be safe). I am sill in Canada with no replacement switch available, and I an NOT going to order another one of these from Moss.

Finally out of the "communications desert", I called Moss today to report the most recent failure along with a strong recommendation that they should immediately freeze sales of the hazardous part. I was advised by the gentleman on the phone from Moss that he did not have the authority to do that, but would file the trouble report with Tech Personnel, and they would be calling me "in a day or two" for more information. In the meantime, beware of smoking dipper switches. All of the detailed information is here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/faulty/ft063.htm




barneymg

Autoelectrical Spares in the UK are selling genuine new Lucas FS22 switches.

http://www.autoelectricalspares.co.uk/lucas-31284-fs22-1-floor-mounted-dip-switch-genuine-2475-p.asp
Chris at Octarine Services

Maybe its time to do the dipswitch/flasher relay conversion on your car Barney. :-)

AT-113A on your website

Doing this and also fitting the wiper delay unit have probably been the most useful modifications that I have done to my car.

Cheers

Colyn
Colyn Firth

Are the Lucas switches genuine or are they new? 8^/

-Del
D Rawlins

They are genuine Lucas, and they are new. However, Lucas isn't what it used to be, with new corporate owner and parts made in various obscure places. For instance, new Lucas alternators now have metric threads for the tensioner bolt (just a clue as to where they may be manufactured).
barneymg

The metric threads at least narrow down its origin to one of the countries which have not been to the moon.

-Del
D Rawlins

Are these new 'Lucas' switches any good? I've heard a lot of bad reports about the green box Lucas parts.

The dip switch on my B worked fine the last time I used it - 1999 - although I am planning the dip/flash conversion when it hits the road again.
Dave O'Neill 2

Are these new 'Lucas' switches any good? I've heard a lot of bad reports about the green box Lucas parts.

MGB story, but I think relevant:
After forty plus years and over 200,000 miles, my original 1965 MGB dipper switch occasionally left me with no headlights when switching between high and low beam. In addition my foot resting against the dipper switch button over the years had actually worn right through the button!!
So I replaced my switch with a "genuine" Lucas replacement that came in in a green "Lucas" box. Right from new, straight out of the box, the new switch frequently left me with no lights as I switched between high and low beam, exactly like the forty year old switch I'd just replaced!! And now a few years on it more often than not it won't work at all. I stamp on it repeatedly, but there's no "click" and no response. If I manage to get a response, it's often to leave me in total, dangerous, darkness!!!!
So I had my local MG parts supplier go through his boxes of old MGB dipper switches. We found one early (1965 and earlier) and one later (1966 and on) switches that still worked, albeit they look rather rusty and old (which of course they are). One of these is going on shortly, and I'll keep the other as a spare.

People liked to make fun of Lucas over the years. "Prince of Darkness" etc. I actually think their stuff, for the day, were pretty good. It's the new "genuine" in a green box "Lucas" that deserves the title of "Prince of Darkness".
T Aczel

Odd world we live in where NOS Lucas is now the gold standard of quality.

-Del
D Rawlins

I was thinking the same when I started to read this thread Del,LOL
gary starr

This thread was discussed between 06/09/2013 and 05/08/2017

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