Electrical gremlins and fixes
My first few weeks of ownership were characterized by happy fun driving in daylight, with no issues, and flickering headlamps and dead batteries after dark. I started to feel like Cinderella, rushing home before my coach turned into a pumpkin. I didn’t always make it.
Tracking down the issue was complicated because, well, I’m just learning this stuff, and not only did I have to figure out the issue, but had to learn how to use the tools to figure out the issues. I now own, and know how to use, a 12V test light.
Part of my confusion stemmed from the now clear fact that I had two simultaneous separate issues, but they were linked, causing me to believe I had one issue with 2 symptoms. Let me explain:
The car started and ran wonderfully, without fail, in daylight. I drove it many times, and had a great time. At night, when I turned on the headlamps, they would flicker on and off, frequently with bumps, and the battery would go dead in short order. Based on the behavior, I figured the headlamps had a loose connection, so I started going through the harness, eventually tracking it down a loose ground wire near the front grill. Tightened it, and was excited to have non-flickering headlamps!
I drove the car for around 25 minutes that night, and a few other time in the day, and thought all was cool. Then I drove it again at night. Boom. Dead in a few miles. Wouldn’t take a jump. Nothing. Had it towed home.
Took the battery in to be tested, and it was dead, dead, despite being just a few weeks old. Doh! Got it recharged at the shop, and went about testing it again. It soon became clear it wasn’t charging. Did some tests on the regulator and the generator, with some emailed help from Barney of the MGAguru.com site, I became pretty convinced it was the generator. Many thanks to the fine guys at the MG experience website for their immense help, especially Steve Simmons, who has a personal site at MGnuts.com.
Steve kindly offered to show me how to rebuild a generator, so I drove over to his (impressive) garage. We spent some time looking into rebuilding my generator, before coming to the conclusion that it was simply too worn, and needed replacement. Luckily, we were able to get one locally, and soon had it in and I was on my way.
I made it home, even using the lights, and all seems well. I was able to tell the battery was charging, and it had a very full charge when I got home. Hooray!
I haven’t really had the chance to test things with any long night drives, as Southern California has been under a crazy rain storm for almost a week now, and my car has no top. But Hopefully soon!
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Glad to hear you’re driving, exploring, improving! I’m subscribed to the site and looking forward to watching your updates.
Thanks Randy. I’m in love with the car, and can’t wait for this rain to stop so I can drive it again!
Congratulations on a really nice car, a great looking car!
Hearing your story about the electrical gremlins reminds me of an old joke… You may have heard it…
Q. Why do the British drink warm beer?
A. They have Lucas refrigerators!
Like the old storys of Harleys always leaking oil, the “Lucas, prince of darkness” electrical gremlins are legend, and like those old Harley oil leaks, less prevalent than legend would have you believe. But, solving a few problems is part of the fun of owning an older car, eh?
Congratulations again!
Thanks Paul! Despite the initial issues, I’m quite confident that she’s quite a good runner underneath. After all, if thy were as bad as rumored with no redeeming qualities, would they have lasted 54 years? =) I jest, a little, but I’m looking forward ot learning as I go, and enjoying the driving in between!
Geoff
hi Geoff,
Congrats on your new purchase, Nothing matches the excitement of acquiring and getting to know a long sought after vintage car. Glad to see you sorted out the electrical issues. A simple solution in hindsight, but frustrating to sort out when your new to this stuff. I have a good friend with a ’62 MGA, (also red) that decided to upgrade to am alternator. I have a very easy upgrade for doing so and is applicable to many BMC cars. I have done this upgrade at least a half dozen times with excellent results. You can see it in the Tech section of my web site. Some tips are specific to Austin Healey Sprites, MG Midgets and Morris Minors, but some, like the alternator conversion are pretty universal. Here’s the link for one done on an MGB: http://gerardsgarage.com/Garage/Tech/alternatorTfisher.htm
I have the best source around for rebuilding the master cylinders, if you ever need help with that (and you likely will at some point).
Let me know if I can help in the future.
Congratulations again!
Cheers!
Gerard
Norcal
http://gerardsgarage.com/
Hey Geoff,
Congratulations on your purchase! And especially for not fearing the Lucas electrical system and diving right in to find the sources of the problems.
I noticed in your first post that the previous owner had installed Halogen headlights, but without any wiring changes or upgrades.
I highly recommend installing relays to take the load off the headlight switch and dimmer. This is a very inexpensive upgrade and makes a big difference in the lighting output.
An excellent tutorial is at http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html
Happy Holidays!
Mike
Thanks Mike! I already bought a kit to do that upgrade, but will check out that site for sure.