Dim tail/ Brake Lights

[Raymond]

i thought the same thing so i cleaned he inside of both lenses and polished the outside with mother plastic polish it helped ALOT but the taillight are still to dim im my opinion and this is a HUGE safety concern for me i almost always have one of my kids in the car

@ Iola i might pick up some new lenses

 

[Steve_S]

You can also install brighter bulbs, but I would address the route of the problem before "upgrading".

 

[piman]

Hello Steve,

if, as is probable, the problem is a poor connection, the more current you try to draw the greater the voltage drop at the problem area itself. The output from incandescent lamps is very dependant on voltage so you may even have less light from a higher wattage lamp.
The real way to diagnose the problem is with a voltmeter to see exactly where the voltage is being lost.

Alec

 

[Steve_S]

Exactly.

 

[ahfan]

100-6 -- all lights work good but the brake lights come on slowly and VERY dim. Any ideas?

 

[YakkoWarner]

I am betting on bad grounding (because that seems to be the common problem on every British car I've had). I've taken to just pre-emptively adding ground wires to every fixture exactly like I do on trailers and it has cleaned up so much of the stereotypical Lucas electrical issues.

 

[PAUL161]

WOW, look at the dates on these posts! 2007 etc! Even Tony, (RIP), has a couple in there, of course Tonys comments are always welcome in my book! Happy to see his spirit is carring on.

 

[ahfan]

I am betting on bad grounding (because that seems to be the common problem on every British car I've had). I've taken to just pre-emptively adding ground wires to every fixture exactly like I do on trailers and it has cleaned up so much of the stereotypical Lucas electrical issues.

Thanks and yes, I've had some grounding issues but this time turns out it's the brake switch! Apparently a common problem.

 

[YakkoWarner]

Thanks and yes, I've had some grounding issues but this time turns out it's the brake switch! Apparently a common problem.

Cool - I have never seen one go bad in that manner but just goes to show that:

1- there is no such thing as 1 universal solution to anything
2 - things can fail in new and exciting ways
3 - there is always something new to learn

 

[ahfan]

I just put LED lights in the dash of my '74 TR6 and WOW what a difference. I ran out of curse words doing the speedo and tach so I'll tackle the other gauges tomorrow.

 

[YakkoWarner]

I just put LED lights in the dash of my '74 TR6 and WOW what a difference. I ran out of curse words doing the speedo and tach so I'll tackle the other gauges tomorrow.

Can you control the brightness of those or are they always just retina-burn intensity? The standard gauge lamps in my squarebody Suburban are not very bright even at full, I thought about putting LEDs in but don't want them to be distractingly bright. If I ever get my MGB assembled to the point of needing dash lights the same question will probably apply as well.

 

[ahfan]

Can you control the brightness of those or are they always just retina-burn intensity? The standard gauge lamps in my squarebody Suburban are not very bright even at full, I thought about putting LEDs in but don't want them to be distractingly bright. If I ever get my MGB assembled to the point of needing dash lights the same question will probably apply as well.

Good point and I did try turning them down with the rheostat and they stayed bright so I guess not! The guy I got mine from will know -
jvparlanti@gmail.com

 

[LarryK]

Brother in law had this problem. Old car bad ground. I regrounded every running, tailight,turn signal and head lights. Also, changed cable from engine to frame.