alternator

[THUNDERBIRD2BURNLEY3]

My ignition light stays on even after the car started and is being driven.I suspect it is a warning for the alternator ?

Is there an upgrade for the alternator for the Stag ? I know when I had my Dolly sprint they advised the metro diesel van one.

cheers.

[hugh_jenjin]

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Someone will probably correct me, but I think I read somewhere t'other day about use of Maestro ones.

[GDPR]

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That would have been me upgrading my Dolly Sprint with a Maestro one possibly...and it sounds like your alternator may well have shuffled off this mortal coil.....

[Oldromola]

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Before you do anything drastic it may well be worth putting a meter across the battery terminals. Although you are probably on the right track - as I can vouch having had more alternator trouble than most SOC members - I suppose you could just possibly have a wiring fault lurking in the background.

IMHO if your alternator is ok your meter should show a reading of over 14 volts with the engine started and no load, and a not much less reading with all the lights on.

[GDPR]

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Agreed - but the warning light is a real bad sign....... it says that you have at the very least one diode being leaky in the rectifier pack unless the ind (brown/yellow) is shorted to earth.

If you disconnect the plug from the back of the alternator and turn on the ign and you have no light, but when you reconnect and start the engine and with it revving the light stays on, I'll bet next weeks wages with you the alternator needs a rebuild regardless what the voltmeter says.

Unless it's an early Mk1 with the original charging circuit, which is such a can of worms,in which case, good luck

[THUNDERBIRD2BURNLEY3]

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Hi,voltmeter analyser shows 14 volts and that the battery is being charged,but when you put the lights on it drops to about 12.6 volts.

voltmeter in the car drops to the 11 volts when driving at night.

[stustag]

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Mines doing this aswell, I haven't found the cause yet but will be taking the car to Kwik Fit to get it checked tomorrow so will let you know what they find.

The car starts ok runs ok and the lights don't dim at all when the car is running!:?

Stuart

[Kevin Garrod]

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I had a similar problem recently, i.e light was on even though voltmeter showed a good reading. I renewed the alternator (from JP very pleased with the service) rather than wait til it let me down completely. On removal the bearing was very tight so only a matter of time til failure.

[GDPR]

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If this sort of thing is by any way typical of British Classics, I could make a fortune if I set up a business sorting the electrics on old Triumphs, Rovers etc - it was my speciality combined with mechanical (Lucas) PIand electronic fuel injection -it's a lot faster to diagnose and fix faultsif the car is in front of you.......

I thought when I left the trade 11 years ago, I'd left it all behind, but if for any reason I'm out of work in the future I'm going to seriously considersetting something up- it would be based in Surrey or possibly mobile -do you thinkanyone would be interested in using such a service?

[THUNDERBIRD2BURNLEY3]

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Surrey a bit too far for me,but I think you wouldn't have much spare time.

There is a garage up here who only looks after old cars,but is expensive.

another garage looked after the Peter Blackcar collection until it was all recently sold off.

I also have an old Mg and that is so simple to work on,except the daft place where they put the two batteries.

[Oldromola]

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In an earlierpost to this forum I mentioned that my 6 months old alternator seemed not to be charging correctly for the first10 minutes or soof any journey. I checked the battery and it seemed to be ok, but when I put a meter across the terminals with the engine running I only got 11.97 volts. This dropped to 11.45 volts under load. The corresponding readings from my other Stag were 14.45 and 14.14 volts.

So....this morning I bit the bullet and changed it for an alternator I had previously had reconditioned by a competent auto electrician. Now there are several jobs I really dislike doing on a Stag including filing down wing badge inserts and reconditioning bumpers, but neither of these compare in any way to the awkwardness of changing an alternator!However, everthing now seems to be in order, as on starting up the engine I got 14.56 volts and 14.38 voltsunder load. Bingo! A 20 mile round trip out this evening has proved all is working as it should, so fingers crossed this alternator will prove more reliable than the previous two or three.

I only mention all this because a couple of you in the previous discussion seemed to be having similar preoblems.

[GDPR]

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there was some mention of a wager..........

Glad you are sorted now

Russ

[Oldromola]

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Hi Russ -

So that I might pay up on your wager I have just re-read your most excellent comments on 2nd Novenberto my original alternatorthread.

Sadly Russ....you forgot to mentiona stake!

For anybody thinking of replacing their own alternators, there have been two suppliers highly recommended from SOC members in these threads. They are Midland Sport and Classics at Droitwich and Goodwins Auto at Birmingham. It is important to remember that these recommendations reflect the individual experiences of only two SOC members and are not the conclusions of an extensive survey or research programme carried out by a clutch of PhDs!

[THUNDERBIRD2BURNLEY3]

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well the car died in town tonight in the rain ,i think the alternator isn't 100% but i think what killed it was kenlowe fan,how much power does this thing zap!

The previous owner has wired it directly to the battery,will this zap more power ? ,where should it wired too.In my Dolly sprint you had terminals to wire it to in the fuse box,but i cant see anything int the stag.with it being wired to the battery it stays on even after the car has stopped .

cheers

[GDPR]

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Kenlowes can win a fight with a car battery in no time - 25A startup current and 15A+ for running - the same as leaving your headlights on.

That is seriously dangerous to your electricity supply - we all know how long a Stag engine can retain heat and the cooling system thermo-syphons to a certain extent keeping that heat in the rad.

You need to make the fan supply ignition controlled - simplest for you is to just cut the existing battery supply to the fan and put in a relaywith the coil energised from the ignition coil +ve or similar ignition controlled circuit.

Is it Mk 1 or 2? I can tell you where to connect it and how to wire the relayif you don't know already.

Russ