By Mike Woodward

It was the first time we had taken our newly acquired MGB LE (“Ellie”) out at night as we set off for the MG Club monthly meeting, back when it was a live meeting held at Christie’s Steak and Seafood on Westheimer. According to our satnav (GPS for the colonials) the Beltway had a major wreck and so it was navigating us around the back streets of west Houston. As it was winter time and a dinner meeting, it started to get dark and so I turned on the headlights to see where we were going. Then, would you believe it, the GPS that was plugged in to the cigarette lighter stopped working!

I turned off the headlights and the GPS came back to life. Now what to do? Drive in the dark with no headlights, or pray we somehow find our way through divine guidance with the headlights on but the GPS off? We opted for the latter and surprisingly found our way on to Westheimer and subsequently to Christie’s. The trip home was uneventful as by then the Beltway was open and I knew the return route.The following weekend it was out with the multimeter to determine the cause of the electrical problem, which turned out to be the “typical” poor ground connection at the back of the dash.

For anyone faced with a similar “Prince of Darkness” problem, the multimeter, shown in the photo is available through the club’s loaner tool program. - Safety fast!