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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Rear Light

Morning all
Went out yesterday in my 77 1500. It was dark wen I came back. got out the car to open the garage, walked round the back of the car & noticed the left side rear light & left number plate light out. This morning I checked the bulbs (swapped with right side to check)- bulbs OK, checked main fuse - OK.
I've looked at the wiring diagram - the red wire comes from light, the diagram shows a rectangle/box - is this an inline fuse.
Not sure what to check next.
Thanks
Regards
Nigel Axtell
Nigel Axtell

Nigel,
if you're looking at the wiring diagram in the Driver's Handbook (a good place to look) :) then the rectangle represents a (single or double) 'joiner' (sorry correct name for it has left my head) its black covered plastic, check both ends for a good clean and secure coupling, better still take apart and clean both ends and 'joiner'

also check the earth wires and earthing points are all clean and secure
Nigel Atkins

joiners or connectors - same as
William Revit

Bullet connector? If it is, then as Nigel has suggested, clean it within an inch of its life, they're notorious for poor connectivity.
Jeremy Tickle

The side and tail lamps together with the number plate lamps are fused left and right. There are two fuses in the fuse box with red wires coming from them.

Does the left front sidelight work?

If it's just the rears that are out, you may have lost the feed at one of the connections along the way.

The easiest one to check is the bullet connector in the boot. There should be two red wires coming out of the main loom, one for the left and one for the right.
These should each go to a double bullet connector which in turn should each have two wires coming out, one to the tail light and one to the number plate light.

Check for 12v at the first connection after it exits the loom. If nothing there, you have lost the feed further back, either where the front loom joins the rear, or at the fuse box connections.
Dave O'Neill 2

thank you, yes connector/bullet connector was what I couldn't think of

if the bullet connectors are original I've always found them to be quite good and only needing a reasonable cleaning, perhaps I've been lucky, but modern made connectors of all types (bullets, spades, etc.) I've found to be poor and need attention when fitting or a few months or years later
Nigel Atkins

This thread was discussed on 08/02/2015

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