Alternator charging and expected dial reading

[mt308]

Steve_D said:

The biggest mistake people make is leaving paint or powder coat under the earth connections.
Clean and reassemble with Vaseline or copper grease then follow up with a coating of same over the assembled joint.

Had a car the other day with the engine earth onto paint. As the earth was not working the start current took the only remaining route back to the battery...the throttle cable. Reminded me of the same issue common on classic minis back in the day.

Steve

Thanks - I did remove the powder coat and got a good connection but I left it dry, and not protected. All has been fine for just over a year. I will do as you suggest. Perhaps the bare metal has rusted too...

Mark

[ROWDYRENAULT]

northern China! I had the pleasure and experience of growing up in Santa Cruz Cal. There is a considerable Asian community in the bay area and the Chinese and Japanese kids I went to high school with would over embellish their immigrant parents accents to the point of no return. Had the experience of meeting some of their parents, really neat people. The Japanese tended to be very successful farmers and you could tell their farms because they where so neat and clean.

[GTRMikie]

Steve_D said:

Reminded me of the same issue common on classic minis back in the day.

Steve

Yes, I once had a choke cable glowing red!

[3Dee]

OK Update!

With the help of Mark, it was established that the size of wire going twixt Alternator and starter motor was not heavy enough. I obtained some 4 gauge which is like small starter motor stuff and fitted last night.
After starting:

On Idle – 14.5
With Aircon – 14
With fans – 13.8

But kept stalling – because alternator and aircon drag on engine.Can sort this out later with a dialled in higher idle.

BUT when I put main beams on after all above and with a bit more revs….Oh dear… voltage plummeted to around 13.2 and the alternator (I presume) started singing! …BLESS!
Soon as I switched off lights, the singing stopped.
May be the belt complaining.

Anyhow…that will get me through the trip, and maybe I can look again when I am back…

So a public thanks to Mark and all you guys that took the trouble to give me some tips to try...

Roll on LM Classics!

[UltimaCH]

Will the "song" reach the Ultima Top 10?

Is it singing (alternator) or squeaking (belt slipping)? I wonder if your alternator is heavy enough to cope with all that draw when you turn on everything... Just my 2p's worth

[3Dee]

Yes - I think it may well be struggling at full blat, so down the line I will be looking to have my other one (145A) tested somewhere and repaired if necessary.

[UltimaCH]

Good call