Orange Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Right - our 1987 3.5 EFi has recently decided that it is going to leave it's battery light on when the ignition is switched OFF??? No problems when the engine is running - as far as we can tell the battery is charging as per normal and all the wires (3 of them) appear to be well connected to the back of the altenator! We have recently done some welding on the chassis, but the alternator WAS disconnected before any work was done! Any clues?? Cheers in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imspanners Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Are there any other lights on? oil lamp etc? If not, it sounds like the regulator has gone inside the alternator and is feeding 12v back up the wire to turn the lamp on. Try dis-connecting the alternator warning lamp wire (or the oblong multi-plug if fitted) and if the light goes out. That may well be your problem. To confirm it put the warning light wire (smallest connector in the 3 pin oblong multi-plug) to earth, in other words put a piece of wire into the connector and touch it down to the metal body of the alternator. If the lamp comes on there's a problem with the ignition switch or gauges, if the light doesn't come on, the alternator is definately shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Seen this before on a Disco, batt light on with everything off & keys in owners hand, at the time I was able to confirm the fault with a RAC guy, he said it was either the reg or a diode busted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Had this on a car, the alt was fine when the engine was running but the battery light stayed on when the vehicle was switched off. Busted diode in the rectifier pack, unplug the connector if you can when you leave the vehicle and it won't flatten your battery. If you are lucky you can buy a new regulator pack (or find one from the scrappy) 5 minute job to swap it on most alts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted January 25, 2006 Author Share Posted January 25, 2006 Cheers folks!! Next question - what is the correct alt. to be fitted to it?? Ours at the moment seems to be the wrong one as it's mounted so that the belt is offset from the main pulley!! This may be the kick up the bum we need to change it for the right one!! Part number anyone?? (or anyone got the correct one lying around?? ) Ta!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Walk round the scrappy and find one that's correctly "handed" and has similar connections on the back. Ford ones fit - dad has a Cosworth alt on his RR at the moment, higher output than the RR one and only cost £20. I have a Mondeo one, cost £15 and chucks out 90A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8bertha Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 yours is an 86/87 efi, isn't it? The alt is on a bracket that bolts on the right hand side of the engine when you are stood in front of the car looking into the engine bay? I had a problem with mis-aligned pulleys on mine, and also on a couple of other early efi's. There should be a supporting bar that goes from the front of the alt bracket down to the bottom of the engine. It was a bugger to fit cos the bracket on mine had obviously bent over the years, so needed some extreme leverage to get the supporting bar in HTH Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02GF74 Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 how much misalignment do you have? The A127 alternator and other Lucas have a metal bush pressed into the lugs - you can moves using a vice and then pack the other side with washers to align the pulley (shouldn;t be required) or maybe you a missing washer/spacer behind the pulley - again you can pack this end too. (I tyhink both of thses methods will move the alt pulley forwards so if it is too far forwards already, dunno wot you do). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 We've solved the light 'situation' by fitting a replacement alternator, but it is still out of line!! The alt. pulley is too far forward, but by moving the sliding metal bush it becomes too far back!! Probably going to make the best of a bad mounting by fudging some spacers together so that it's vaguely right!! Or by selecting 'heavy' in the hammer department - proper engineering stylee!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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