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 - LED & Flasher Issue

A friend forwarded this to me after I expalined the problem with LEDs and the flasher unit in the TD.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280024986560&fromMakeTrack=true

Seems like it would solve the problem using LEDs for brake lights, but I'm not sure about the grounding issue they mention, unless the connection from the flasher to the TD indicator switch is the ground.

Curious as to opinions.
L Karpman

Opps! Meant top say, "...unless the connection from the flasher to the TD indicator LIGHT is the ground. But according to the wiring diagram, it is not"
"
L Karpman

Larry - There are two problems involved with using LED lights for the tail/brake lights (beyond the issue of angle of coverage). First, 99% of the LED replacement bulbs are wired for negative ground vehicles (this oesn't applie to your TD as yours has been converted to negative ground). The second problem is that the led bulbs don't draw enough current to cause the flasher to operate (the standard flasher is calibrated for a certain amount of current to operate. Too much current throughthe flasher will cause it to flash very fast, while too little current will cause it to flash very slowly or not at all). This situation is used to alert the driver to a burned out bulb in the system. The flasher listed on e-bay is an electronic flasher that is not dependent on current draw for the flasher to operate at a given rate. You can get the same thing, at about half the price by going to NAPA and getting a heavy duty flasher that is designed to be used when hooking the lights of a trailer into the vehicles lighting system. The draw back is that there is no indication when a light bulb is burned out - a minor inconvenience, you just have to check your turn signals periodically. As for how the flasher is hooked up, I wold have to look at the drawing to determine how it would go in the TD. The TD uses a three terminal flasher, with one of the terminals going to the indicator light on the dash. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Dave: That's exactly what I told my friend, especially about the ground. The TD is grounded through the indicator socket on thedash, and this one requires a constant ground. He said to hook L & P together at the flasher and run the 3d wire to ground. However, I'm not risking anything until I am positive that this type of flaher would work in the TD with absolutely NO, ZERO, NADA negative affects. Thanks
L Karpman

This thread was discussed on 09/09/2006

MG TD TF 1500 index

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