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Re: TR6 Interior lights

To: jworthy@csc.com, triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: TR6 Interior lights
From: DANMAS@aol.com
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 12:48:21 EST
In a message dated 98-10-28 00:10:07 EST, jworthy@csc.com writes:

> The TRF parts book says this switch is for 73 cars
>  onwards.  If it is for the 72 model then can someone send me a wiring
>  diagram.

John,

Don't you just love these cars?  According to the owners manuals, this switch
didn't appear till the '74 models. Things like this make it tough to answer
questions from a distance, but I'll give it a shot, using the '74 diagram as a
reference. Luckily, there is enough similarity between model years that this
will work.
 
>  A couple of other questions:
>  
>  a)   the driver's door switch has four connections i.e. earth, 2 x Lucars
>  and a wire.  Can this be transferred to the RH door given that this is now
>  my driver's door.

Yes, but a little background info first. All "courtesy" lamps - trunk, glove
box, footwell, key - receive power from a purple wire (with an exception -
naturally - in that the trunk lamp on later models - '74 on - gets power from
a red wire, and only works when the parking lamps are on). Any purple wire
will do, as all purple wires are hot all the time, and fused.

All courtesy lamps are switched on by grounding through a purple/white wire.
ANY purple white wire WON'T do, for reason explained below.

When the driver's door is opened, the two lucar connectors on the switch are
shorted together, and the wire is shorted to ground. The two lucar connectors
are never connected to the wire internally to the switch. The reason for this
seemingly un-necessarily complicated arrangement is for circuit isolation, ie,
when the drivers door is open, you want both the footwell lamp and the key
lamp to come on, but when the passenger's door is opened, you only want the
footwell lamp to come on.

Unfortunately, the wiring diagram doesn't show it this way. I believe the
diagrams are wrong, and the car is actually wired as I described - it doesn't
make sense that Triumph would go to the trouble and expense of this special
switch and then not use its functions. Even if they did, I wouldn't. I would
be appreciative if someone with a later model would tell me if the key lamp
does or does not come on when the passenger door is opened.

With the following changes, the wiring diagrams would be be as I described
above (again, refering to the '74 diagram from the '74 owner's manual):

a) The diagrams show a P/W wire going from the key lamp (item 16) to a black
bot between the door switches (items 19 & 20). Disconnect this wire from the
black dot.

b) Add a new switch, similar to items 18, 19, or 20. Reconnect the above wire
to one side of this switch, and connect the other side of the switch to
ground. Even though this switch would show as a separate item on the diagram,
in reality it would just be one section of the switch you now have.

To wire the switch physically, after moving it to the RH door, connect a short
black wire from one of the lucar connectors to ground. Wire the purple/white
lead from the key lamp to either the red wire from the door switch or to the
other lucar connector, and the P/W wire from the footwell lamp to the
remaining connection. Which wire goes to which connection depends on what kind
of connector the wires have on them now. It doesn't matter which one goes
where, it's just easier to utilize the existing terminals than redoing them.
The P/W wire from the passenger door switch and the P/W wire from the dash
switch connect to the P/W wire from the driver's door switch.

>  b)   which side of the car does the wires for the interior light plinth
>  run?

Regardless of LH or RH drive configuration, the wires from the dash go to the
left side of the car, where they split into two bundles - one goes to the rear
of the car along the rocker panel and under the carpet, and the other goes
through a grommet into the engine compartment. Beyond that, I plead ignorance
of RH drive cars. 

>  c)   The key light  operates off the driver's door switch.  Does this light
>  turn off immediately the door closes or is there some time delay so you can
>  put your key in?

This light turns off immediately when the door is closed. Many "modern"
automobiles use time delay devices for such functions as the "fasten seat
belt" warning lamp. You could get one of these devices and add it to your car
if you wish. Toyotas and Volvos both use them, but what other cars do I don't
know.

Hope this helps. If I can provide further clarification, let me know.

Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN

'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
                    http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/index.html
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74

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