Battery drain

[wilf]

Faulty alternator - don't reconnect it.

Sadly, it is a remove and replace job, your supplier should send you a new one.

[richardthestag]

Faulty alternator - don't reconnect it.

Sadly, it is a remove and replace job, your supplier should send you a new one.

yeah, about that, check T&Cs "sold millions and never had anyone complain yet" etc

[jbuckl]

Special offer on alternators:-

Buy 3 for the price of 3 …. Get to see if one works.

[richardthestag]

in the last 12 months I have had ...

Ok series land rover, but a britpart starter, failed out of the box, had to train poodles to jump through firey hoops and wait 6 weeks to get a refund. never got my return postage back, cust services lass was not being paid enough for me to bark at so I didn't bother.
Range Rover rover v8 starter, green bollox Lucas, worked the first time. then the solenoid went closed circuit so the starter was constantly engaged. even during the limited testing like 10 seconds at the time it was long enough to destroy the main power lead to the starter via heat. got a refund on the starter, not the battery lead nor the postage.
Alternator from main supplier to our industry would not excite, dead out of the box.

All of this **** I had to wait on refunds for.

[flying farmer]

Special offer on alternators:-

Buy 3 for the price of 3 …. Get to see if one works.

Too right, I bought a cheap new "lucas" alternator a few years ago. the bearings were noisy and the pulley off centre. I rang the supplier and they actually sent me a replacement before returning the first one. The replacement was machined so badly the armature was catching the windings. I actually managed to construct a working example out of the two then sent the crap with three faults back to the supplier. That seemed a better idea than waiting for another turd to come through the post. The previous one I had bought for another car had the commutator off centre so it wore out one of the brushes within a few thousand miles, I turned that one straight on a lathe before fitting new brushes.
When I go on foreign trips in the Stag I now take a spare alternator with me that I know to be working

[jbuckl]

Too right, I bought a cheap new "lucas" alternator a few years ago. the bearings were noisy and the pulley off centre. I rang the supplier and they actually sent me a replacement before returning the first one. The replacement was machined so badly the armature was catching the windings. I actually managed to construct a working example out of the two then sent the crap with three faults back to the supplier. That seemed a better idea than waiting for another turd to come through the post. The previous one I had bought for another car had the commutator off centre so it wore out one of the brushes within a few thousand miles, I turned that one straight on a lathe before fitting new brushes.
When I go on foreign trips in the Stag I now take a spare alternator with me that I know to be working

Never yet done a foreign trip in the stag.
Once did a wedding trip to Scotland.

Dream is to go to Austria/ Switzerland.

Have provided a large sack of known good spares to other local groups on their travels abroad. (Starter / alternator / drive hub etc)

They were grateful for the spares and gifted me back generously.

[stonedrive]

Hi everyone quick update, now tried three alternators same thing all draining battery I can’t be that unlucky. One thing I have noticed is that they all seem warm without car running. Could it be a wire breaking down problem or anything too do with wiring. Your thoughts much appreciated Steve.

[flying farmer]

I note earlier in this thread you mention an extra brown wire that you have connected to the new alternator. If you have also done this with the 2 other alternators this could be your problem.

I have no idea what the other spade is for, but it might not need connecting to a permanent live, leave it off and see if it fixes your problem

[StagJonno]

Brown wires are straight off the battery, so it needs wrapping with insulation tape.

Wondering if this alternator terminal is for the Ignition Warning Light (and initial excitation). Do you have a brown/ yellow wire with a female spade connector in the vicinity, it could be this wire that goes to this terminal.

[stonedrive]

Hi, thanks for reply I’m going to check wiring tomorrow everything is rapped in insulation tape, maybe a break in wire somewhere I will report back. Steve

[gbb483]

maybe a break in wire somewhere

Breaks don't tend to produce current drain problems. Shorts do.

[stonedrive]

Hi everyone, just a thought when I took the three spade plug apart to clean that goes into alternator, could I have put the two large spade connectors the wrong way around. If I swap them over to try could it damage anything if they were right. I had marked them all up but you never know. Just a thought. Many thanks Steve

[wilf]

Shouldn't make any difference - they are commoned up anyway.

You only need the two thick brown cables (with the larger spade connections) and the brown/yellow wire connected - that other, smaller, brown wire can be taped up out of the way. Try that.

[stonedrive]

Hi Wilf, ok thanks I have got the smaller brown wire tucked out of the way. I’m in the process of removing insulation tape so I can inspect wiring for any damage. Cheers Steve

[stonedrive]

Right this is what I have found so far. Don’t know if this will cause my battery drain but it can’t help. New cables in order I think. Will check starter and ignition warning light and coil cables tomorrow. Any thoughts welcome. Cheers Steve