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 - TF Wiring Question

Does anyone know of a good way (i.e. safe) to rewire the headlights from the non-switched side of the ignition switch to the switched side? It would take some sort of connecting block to fit the wires from the lights and then connect to the ignition switch as the switch has only a small hole which already has two wires in it. Is it even possible?
It would be nice to have the lights go off with the ignition switch and avoid looking back at the car only to see the parking lights and/or the headlights still on.

What I do now is that I use a keychain labeled 'lights' that I hang on the headlight switch when I use it. It acts as a reminder to me and sometimes I even notice it.

Larry
LD Kanaster

Perhaps a relay operated off the switched terminal on the regulator box (I forget whether it's A or A1) to operate the lights whenever the ignition is switched on.

Jud
J K Chapin

My headlights and driving lights are wired to relays, the switch only opens and closes the relay with very little draw on the switch. The switch wired as factory would get hot, now it stays cool. PJ
PJ Jennings

While wiring in a relay powered by the ignition switch would resolve the issue I don’t know that it is a good idea.

Take a scene, driving at night, Lucas smoke sneaks out, ignition OFF as first action, in the dark.

More ideal would be to have lighting to exit the road with the ignition OFF, then extinguish the lights, shutoff the KILL switch disconnecting the battery.

A simple circuit operating a buzzer if lights are ON with ignition OFF makes more sense and safety.

Now, I have an idea.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

Larry, the corollary to what you're talking about is that you want your ignition to be on whenever your lights are on. I'm not sure that's a good idea. You might want to give it another thought. Bud
Bud Krueger

Well, I think the general consensus is that my thought about changing the wiring is not a good idea. Thank you all for your thoughts. I think the best thing for me to do is to stick with my 'keychain' reminder.

Larry
LD Kanaster

It is very simple to figure a warning system.

Get a relay, feed lights volts, from the parking lights thru the relaxed side of the contacts to a piezo buzzer.

Wire the coil to the A4 side of the fuse block, ignition ON, no volts to activate buzzer, turn the ignition OFF and lighting power flows to the buzzer.

Turn off the lights, buzzer is OFF, shut the garage door and head off to bed.

It could be hidden under the dash, all you need is to be able to figure out what the noise is when you shut OFF the ignition.

$10 in parts.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

Simple wiring diagram for a “lights on” warning.

Peter


P G Gilvarry

Peter-- You have given me something to think about. This is somewhat similar to what I did with the turn signals. I got tired of sitting at a stop light and having to keep re-engaging the turn signals due to them shutting off. I was able to rebuild the turn signal switch such that it remains on for perhaps 5 minutes before it turns off. I also wired a buzzer into the system, hidden under the dash, that reminds me to turn off the turn signals after I complete the turn. It works great.

Larry
LD Kanaster

If you remove the BIG spring in the back it becomes a manual switch, stays on until turned off.

I added buzzers need to muffle them a bit, but they do stop people walking out in front of me.

I am thinking of adding a lights warning as a project, I have everything except a cheap ass relay, so I will be looking for that soon. Of course as I drive into the garage it is obvious the lights are on, but not so much when I go to the park or store.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

One thing to watch out for if you choose to use Peter's solution. You need to be using a relay that has a Normally Closed (NC)set of contacts. Many common automotive relays only contain a Normally Open (NO) set of contacts. Bud
Bud Krueger

Good point Bud, I have not started my search yet.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

Peter,

One solution is to use a SPDT (Single pole Double throw) relay. In the attached diagram you find the connections and their annotations for automotive relays.

John


J Scragg

This thread was discussed between 05/11/2021 and 12/11/2021

MG TD TF 1500 index

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