Alternator slight prob

[dal2litrefrogeye]

Hi all , got a problem with my alternator on my Ultima ( s b c ) I would guess its the standard factory/ A S fit, its a powermaster , now all the problem is the charge light on the dash has started not to all ways come on with the ignition on , so i wiggled the lead ( R1 if i remeber rightly )and i can make the light come on or go off ( obviously this is with ignition on but engine not running ) so i initialy changed the female spade terminal but still have same prob , so I removed and stripped the alternator and pulled the ceramic looking thing where the light terminal and voltage in line go and where the male spade goes into the ceramic ( voltage rectifire ?? ) thing I can see corrosion type thing going on , but this unit is sealed ( of course ) , my question is any one know where I can get powermaster internal parts , or whats the equivelent bosch or lucas alternator to use . the good thing is, 1 iv got the part out easy and its got ( I assume there part ? )numbers on it < and 2 the alternator Is still charging very good , but its a bit disconcerting with the light not always working ??? , cheers for any thoughts

[tinker-27]

I think road craft are a dealer for those ,

[Storer]

I would try checking the earth and the wiring before you change the alternator as it may save you some cash if it is still charging.

Paul

[spatz]

I would suspect the bulb holder to have corrosion, try a different light fixture to see if that helps, if alternator is charging you can check the voltage it should be around 13,5 V when the engine is running at 2000 rpm

[dal2litrefrogeye]

Hi thanks for the replies , hands up didnt explain clearly the wire i was wiggling to make the charge light flicker on and off was on the back of the alternator ,one of the two spades , and the the charge is very good , a strong 14 volts at the battery , think ill just clean all conections in alternator put it back together and see how it goes ???

Edited by dal2litrefrogeye on Friday 5th August 23:55

[MarkWebb]

S I believe stands for sense. This wire (in production cars)is used to sense the voltage at the point in the loom where voltage is lowest due to voltage drop. This point is usually where the loom feed to high amp stuff such as headlights is taken from. This allows the alternator to charge at a higher voltage/current without doing damage to battery. From my understanding of the Ultima loom it is pretty much useless for its intended function due to loom design. In fact I think it is connected to charge wire a few inches away from alternator. However it may need to be connected to get alternator to charge. If charge wire is big enough it won't cause a problem however the charge wire on my car was a too small in my view for my 80 amp alternator.