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I installed an aftermarket seven wire turnsignal switch on my 1980 migi/vw and the blinkers do not flash. I have no idea why they do not work. I also installed a three prong flasher.
Check the ground. Fiberglass cars have no natural ground. Run a wire from the signal to the frame and see if that does it.
Greg
Richard, Did the car have working turn signals before you installed the new switch?.Concerning the three prong flasher, is the third prong used for the dash indicator light and if it is , do you have the correct terminal hooked to the indicator light?. Do the lights work but just do not blink, or do they not light up at all? If the park and tail lights work, the lights are grounded already,but the grounds are always the first suspect on these cars. Let us know how it turns out.
The original turn signal vw 1968,three wire, with a two prong flasher. It was broken and I don’t believe the signals worked. I have traced all wires and checked all connections and bulbs. All the lights come on when being direct wired. The turn signal switch is the aftermarket chrome 7 wire turn signal requiring a three prong flasher found on mamotorworks.com. If I have my foot on the brakes and turn the left blinker on it does not lite but the right brake light is illuminated (same happens when the right is turned on). The turn signal switch has its own light and it does’nt come on either but current is flowing.
Richard, I am thinking that the new switch is designed to use the same light for the brakes and turn signal.If that is the case the switch kills current from the brake light switch and that allows the turn signal switch to send intermittent current to blink the same bulb .Most VW based MG replicas use VW rear lights that have one two filament bulb for the tail light and brake light and a seperate single filament bulb for the turn signal.You may need to eliminate [not use] some of the 7 wires on the new switch.Hope this helps.
WOW, sounds like an original TD?
Lucas, Prince of Darkness lighting system. Richard, your replica is more like the real deal MG with lights acting up.
So far, I have been able to track my mystery electrical to ground issues. I did run a heavy common ground for the instrument cluster, but like Dan said, I ran a clean ground for everything else separately.
My harness is the original 74 Pinto, so the 74 Pinto wiring diagrams helped greatly, even tho less than half the wires on the internal harness were used. Greg Stickney has done a fabulous job on his wiring system and when budget allows I’ll follow Greg’s lead and rework mine. Right now everything works, so I’ll not fix it unless it breaks
. I imagine you are running on the VW harness.I have a grounding bar on my firewall that is cabled to the steel frame, all my ground leads are attached to that bar with mechanical fastners. The bar is like the one in your breaker box at home, multiple attachment points.
Murphy any recomendation on which wires to eliminate. I did correct the tail light wiring to match a vw light system. This car has it’s own wiring system with no schematic and alot of orange, blue, and black wires. I’m currently sorting out and lableing each one. I think Ray Charles wired this thing. I’ve got to work so I’ll be back on this thing Thursday.
Richard, Use a test light to identify a right wire and a left wire coming from the switch and try connecting both front and rear lights to the same right or left switch wire. Unless something is crossed up in the wires going to the lights ,this should solve the problem.I know these things can be very difficult to get right when some else has done the wiring before and may have not got everything right in the first place.Hang in there,you will get it yet.
James Cochran and I both have a central ground strip. AFTER grounding to the frame, I ran a wire to a separate terminal strip with 12 screws to attach various items to, including the entire dash. It is very hard to explain what to do because we all have a different layout and/or system. I have a Ford, some have VW. I am not well versed in VW’s however one thing is clear.
Power to the light either direct or through a switch cannot activate another item. That means the left turn signal lights are the ONLY things that should come on. Right front and brake at the same time is bad. That means you have a short or a crossed wire. That is indicative of Lucas, and the problematic wiring these cars came with to start with. The ONLY secure way to insure a positive outcome is to do one thing at a time…. wire, test, confirm test, then solder and shrink wrap before moving t the next item.
Tedious is the word here. It took me over a month to do my car, and I know what I’m doing, plus, I had some very well versed help. Gary and I have been doing this sort of thing together for 45 years, so we had a good idea where to start.
In my case, it was NOT the hazard flasher. It was the ground, one that we both missed. I hope this helps. If not, send me a private message and I’ll try to help that way.
Greg
Thanks Greg. I will install a ground bar as suggested. I’ve already identified each individual wire and I’m going to eliminate some of the wires from the switch as sugjested by Murphy. I’ll see what happens then.
Update: Found out the body of the turnsignal switch has to be grounded. The steering column does not have a ground but it will soon. Bad thing is the turn signal switch does not stop flashing and the lights do not light up. I bought a ground bar and will install it next. The fun has begun!
Richard
Don’t you love electrical problems?
Darn near every problem I’ve had with auto systems is due to a poor ground. I’ve learned to check my grounds first, then check my grounds second, then check my grounds third. THEN I look at the other wires.
Ringo
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