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Triumph TR6 - Electrical Question for Dan or anyone else

Dan, I was so proud last night that I did as you suggested and got all my outside lights working. Tonight, I had to go somewhere and I took the TR6. Tail lights, headlights, markers and gauge lights all lit up beautifully. Then, the car sat outside while I was in a little meeting for about 2 1/2 hours and it got kind of dewy--our South Florida weather tonight is nice and clear at about 74 or 75 degrees or so. When I started it up at about 10:00, the gauge lights didn't come on and I checked, and sure enough, no tail lights. With the brake pedal depressed, the gauge lights and tail lights worked. I kind of lightly touched the brake light for a few seconds and the other lights then stayed on without the brake pedal being depressed, even though I was at that point.

Any clues?

Thanks, John.
JL Bryan

John,
You have a poor ground. Dew is distilled water and thus has no continuity. It will act as an insulator rather than a conductor. When it got in your poor ground it prevented current from flowing. The extra amperage for the brake lights warmed the ground up enough to evaporate the dew. Thats my theory. Go through your grounds again. Clean them, reconnect them, put in an extra grounding wire. You didn't say but was the top up or down? Did the interior get damp? If so I'd start with the grounds under the dash. Relax, you aren't experiencing anything the rest of us haven't. I normally start with a wiring diagram, a fine cigar, a dram of brandy and a long talk with my car.
Joe Jusice
Joe Justice

OH MY, well said Joe.

The diagram, some imagination, the smoke, a dollop. What more could a man ask for?

Hey John. Is there an echo in here? I could have sworn someone said ground issues.
Maybe it's just me.

Keep at it Buddy, you'll get it.

Jim (grounded in reality but never earthed)
Jim Deatsch

JL,

I've tried to recreate your problem on a wiring diagram, but I can't quite piece it together. It would appear that you have more than one problem. The cure is the same, though. Check/clean/repair all your connections in the red wire circuit, and all the grounds in your tail light assemblies. Jim is correct, most of the electrical problems that defy explaination are caused by bad grounds.

Do make the repairs given at the Buckeyes Triumph website site mentioned before. You will thank yourself for it if you do, and curse yourself for it if you don't. Trust me, your taillight assemblies will cause you no end of grief if you don't fix them.

Do you belong to a club in your area, or do you know a few other TR6 owners near you? If so, I suggest you see if one of them has a copy of my book that you could borrow. Look at chapter three for an explaination of what bad grounds and bad connections can cause.
Dan Masters

Dan and John,

Dan, doesn't it sound like a feedback issue to you? I rather thought that for granted until I, too, took up the diagram.

I keep coming back to feedback.

John,
if you haven't done the taillight deal as described then do so. It's a great winter (summer) project and will hone your soldering skills.

Jim
Jim Deatsch

Dan, and Jim, the reason you can't figure it out from the wiring diagram is probably due to the fact that my car isn't wired exactly as shown. In the wiring diagram, the red leads involved all come from the 2d fuse (or 3d, depending on which way is up); on my car, these leads all come from the bottom fuse on the box. The fuse box appears to be stock, but there is a jumper from what is the top fuse on my box to the second one; that surely isn't on the diagram! That is from memory from cleaning it 2 nights ago, and I will check tonight to be sure. I realize it doesn't make any difference what fuse is used, so long as the leads go to the right place, but I need to determine that.

On the diagram, is the top of the fuse box to the left or right? By top, I mean that my fuse box is mounted so that the fuses are horizontal.

Also, I will go back and solder the lamp holders, but I am not sure when. I know how to solder, so that isn't an issue. However, it seems like some info says to use a low wattage iron and the buckeye site says high wattage. Does it make much difference?

Thanks, John.
JL Bryan

"The fuse box appears to be stock, but there is a jumper from what is the top fuse on my box to the second one; that surely isn't on the diagram!"

It seems that someone replaced your fuse box with one from an MGB. The difference being that jumper - MGBs have it, Triumphs don't. Otherwise, they are identical, and cannot be distinuished from the front. That may be part of your problem. On a TR6 box, each fuse is independant.

"However, it seems like some info says to use a low wattage iron and the buckeye site says high wattage."

I prefer high wattage. It takes time for heat to soak up a wire. The smaller the wattage, the longer it takes to get a joint hot enough to melt the solder. The longer it takes, the better the chance for solder wicking up the wire.

"I keep coming back to feedback."

I agree, but how and where is not clear. Most likely, if not the fuse box issue, a bad ground.
Dan Masters

Dan, the lead from the top fuse that had the jumper lead to nowhere--a dead line. I pulled it through and took it and the jumper off. I believe it was for some accessory like the radio, which isn't wired in. Anyway, everything seems to work tonight and that top fuse doesn't feed anything. It is still a work in progress! John.
JL Bryan

By the way, the only purpose I can guess for the jumper from one fuse to the next would be to double fuse the circuit.

That doesn't seem like it would serve any purpose. It wouldn't have doubled the amperage of the single fuse as the fuses would be in line with each other. Maybe it was just a stupid thing someone did without thinking about it, or maybe it would have served to run the power through the ignition switch, if the second fuse was wired that way. Either way, it seems dumb to me.
JL Bryan

This thread was discussed between 22/10/2003 and 23/10/2003

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