richardthestag Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Hello The tacho on my 93 RRC has taken on a life of its own. The needle wavers around between 0 and 2k rpm. It started mucking me about this morning. Sometimes it works! I heard that these take their feed from the alternator?!? All the connections on the back of the alternator seem solid enough. Any ideas what could be causing this problemo? Ta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Recently this started to happen to mine..... I fiddled but nothing fixed it, put up with it for 3 weeks then the charge light started glowing... one screwed alternator I have heard that the back end of them can be cleaned up a bit somehow, which might help, but as I had a spare kicking around, I swapped them over and not had a problem since..... Hope you cvan clean yours, or it's the scrappy otherwise I guess.... Bowie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardthestag Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Recently this started to happen to mine..... I fiddled but nothing fixed it, put up with it for 3 weeks then the charge light started glowing... one screwed alternator I have heard that the back end of them can be cleaned up a bit somehow, which might help, but as I had a spare kicking around, I swapped them over and not had a problem since..... Hope you cvan clean yours, or it's the scrappy otherwise I guess.... Bowie. Ta I have a spare on the shelf so I'll try that if a quick clean up doesn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardthestag Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Made it home last night except the last 6 miles of the journey were on the back of an RAC / On-Time low loader Left work with Tacho flicking about, this gave up altogether just after I got on the a40 in Greenford. After a couple of miles the ABS light started to flicker, I managed to stop this by switching off the interior fan and radio. But after a few miles the ABS light was on permanently but very dim. Next the speedo would die when I indicated moving from one lane to the next. Not really wanting to sit on the hard shoulder of the M40 I continued to Beaconsfield on side lights with no tacho, no speedo and the abs light on. But no ignition light. Stopped in a layby and it died on me I guess that had I not been running on LPG then the engine ECU would have given up long ago and left me stranded. RAC sent out a low loader within 30 mins and I had a spare 2nd hand alternator on the shelf at home which I fitted in 45 mins. Everything is working again but the replacement alternator is very noisy so I shall buy a new unit today. Pricey but peace of mind as I do 15k miles a year in this daily driver. Top marks to Bowie69 for quick diagnosis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Don't chuck the old one, this fault is often the brushes sticking due to mud. My dad's alt has done this many times and we're now quite practiced at removing the regulator/brush pack, cleaning it with WD40 (jiggle the brushes to encourage them back out of the housing where they stick in) and refitting. Bosch ones are easy (2 philips screws), Lucas ones are small (~6mm head) bolts and a wire with a spade terminal, bit more fiddly but doable in a muddy field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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