Can someone please tell me what this electrical part is?

[sujitroy]

Can someone please tell me what this electrical part is and what does it do and how does it work? It came of a K reg Stag I parted out.

[72BLUE]

https://socforum.com/forum/forum/stag-owners-club/soc-forum/17410-tail-light-resistors

[72BLUE]

Here's one fitted to an early Dolomite Sprint...........

dolly resistor.jpg

Cheers
Keith

[sujitroy]

Thanks

[Lingen]

I found a pair of these on my first (1972) Stag, but they were disconnected, and as I couldn't see what there were for, I removed them. The car had a working night-dimming relay as well, so presumably it was nothing to do with that arrangement.
I see they are for sale on Ebay to fit a range of Ford cars of the period, as a voltage dropper for the two speed heater fan. That implies that it is able to carry a heavier current than would be needed for a light bulb.
Research continues!
Mike.

[davidf]

I have just found that I have these resistors on my 1972 Mk1 Stag, in series with each tail light. They drop the voltage by about 2V. They are not shown in the wiring diagrams or parts lists, but I have found this link to a document which does list them https://www.holden.co.uk/uploads/tech-docs/pdfs/495.pdf See page 7, list of Sundry items, where they are listed as Dimmer resistor 4BR
It seems that they were fitted to some early Stags (and other Triumphs of the time) to dim the tail lights.
I suggest anyone with a Mk1 checks behind the rear trim of the boot. If they are there, remove the lead from the loom which is attached to the resistor, and attach it directly to the bulb in place of the short lead from the resistor. This should give you brighter tail lights.