• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

warning bulb questions

Share this page

NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
Bronze
Offline
First question: The red ignition warning light was burned out.

I unscrewed it (and thus discovered it's not a bayonet bulb ...) and replaced it with the only 12v screw-in bulb I could find at any auto store in town. They carry zillions of bayonet bulbs, but no screw in base 12v bulbs. Had to get a 12v flashlight bulb.

Re-connected the battery, turned the key, and the red light immediately came on nice and bright - and went immediately off.

Tried with another bulb. Same thing. New bulb, turn on ignition, bulb burns *really* bright then burns out.

What is the bulb to get? The original was a 1446, but no one carries them. Is Moss 171-000 the only replacement? (and is it a special "slow blow" bulb)?

Second question: there's no "main beam" indicator assembly in my speedometer. Just a hole for the unit to slide into. Can't find a replacement for the assembly in the Moss catalog. Can anyone suggest a source or substitute?

Or maybe this is related to the ammeter wildly gyrating when the engine runs - bad regulator and thus much too high voltage?

Thanks.
Tom
 
I'm afraid I can't help with the bulb question. It almost sounds as though it is a 6V bulb or something like that. What I wanted to say was please be really careful that the bulb holder is properly in place. The ignition bulb holder slipped out on my TR4 years ago and caused all the wiring to melt as that circuit is un-fused.
Also I can't help but think that an original full-beam light holder would be the best. Someone somewhere must have a used one that you could buy.
 
Tom:

I have an old speedometer. I'll look at it and see if I can get the high beam indicator out easily. You can have it for postage.
 
Tom,
Your concern of the ammeter is a first concern and you should perform a voltage check at the battery to see what's being sent out by the generator. Do you have a multimeter?

The bulb is 12 volt 2.2 watt. I bought a bunch from the local NAPA dealer a couple years ago so I'm sure they still carry them. The threaded base of the bulb will not be that copper brass colour. It will be threaded aluminum and the thread may look a bit short of the original but they work fine. Bring an original speedo or tach gauge bulb with you as it is the same as the indicator bulbs if you don't have an indicator bulb. If you cannot find any I have two or three left I can send you. I honestly do not remember what the speedo high beam bulb looks like so I'll have to take a trip to the garage.
 
Tom,

None of the exterior or dash lights worked on my 69TR6
when my wife purchased it. Most of the bulbs and holders
were missing. Here is a photo of one light assembly that
was whole but non-functional. Since I had to make a new
board, I moved all the speedo and tach lights onto the dash area along with right and left turn signal lights.

I hope this helps you out. Most od tha dash lights are 2.2w

best wishes,

tinster in bikini beach bongo babes PR
bulb.jpg


dashboard.jpg
 
Harry - I share your concern on the ammeter readings. Will crank up the engine tomorrow (first time in over a week) and do a multimeter check.

For some weird reason I didn't even think of NAPA for the bulbs; will stop there tomorrow also.

Dale - that bulb holder looks like mine do. Some serious cleanup is ahead. But your new dash looks great. Is that a standard tach? The area beyond 5500 looks "masked off".

The more I check over the wiring, the more I think many years ago someone had some "fun" patching wires in the harness. Let's see - the green/white under the dash is patched to a solid green, which is patched to red, which runs to the front right turn signal lights. There's a pair of green/white lines in a female socket in the engine bay, but not plugged with any wires at all. There are two green/white lines there with wirecaps on each. The left rear turn signal light is fed by a green/white wire which is patched to a green/red line, which is patched to a red/black line with a solid green two inch wire patched in the middle of it ... etc. etc. Oy.

Tom
 
Forgot to say - *all* the lights work correctly except the right rear turn signal, which never comes on. And the main beam indicator, which is missing. Otherwise, the "interesting" wiring seems to be doing its job (I hope ...).

Ain't wiring fun?

T.
 
Yup, Standard tach that came with the car.
I did a major refurbish on all the gauges.
Looks pretty good- compared to what it was.

So thanks for the compliment!

d
 
Contact LESLEY at BRITISH WIRING.COM (GOOGLE)Nice British folks,they'll have what you need & more at very reasonable prices.Nice catalog too. Ken
 
Back
Top