Back on the road
Discussion
After a month off the road following my electrical problems at the Bruntingthorpe day out, I finally picked the car up on Saturday.
After much searching, the guys have been unable to pinpoint the failure. No damage to any parts of the wiring loom and no signs of a anything shorting to earth eiher. We think it must have been down to a freak power surge from the alternator, fusing the main 80A fuse and three other fuses. In addition it fried the ECU beyond repair (ouch!), the tacho and the alternator charge light.
Anyone heard of anything like this before?
Whilst it was off the road I also had the dampers replaced with a set of Nitrons, stiffer springs, the hubs modified to allow camber adjustment, the car corner-weighted and tracking/ride heights set.
The guys up at Bruntingthorpe have been fantastic throughout and even allowed me some track time to try out a few settings with the new shocks. What a difference! Anyone running on standard settings should go and see these guys!
BIG thanks to Dave and Matt for all their help. Can't reccommend them highly enough. Top blokes
After much searching, the guys have been unable to pinpoint the failure. No damage to any parts of the wiring loom and no signs of a anything shorting to earth eiher. We think it must have been down to a freak power surge from the alternator, fusing the main 80A fuse and three other fuses. In addition it fried the ECU beyond repair (ouch!), the tacho and the alternator charge light.
Anyone heard of anything like this before?
Whilst it was off the road I also had the dampers replaced with a set of Nitrons, stiffer springs, the hubs modified to allow camber adjustment, the car corner-weighted and tracking/ride heights set.
The guys up at Bruntingthorpe have been fantastic throughout and even allowed me some track time to try out a few settings with the new shocks. What a difference! Anyone running on standard settings should go and see these guys!
BIG thanks to Dave and Matt for all their help. Can't reccommend them highly enough. Top blokes
Noblescort said:
We think it must have been down to a freak power surge from the alternator, fusing the main 80A fuse and three other fuses. In addition it fried the ECU beyond repair (ouch!), the tacho and the alternator charge light.
Anyone heard of anything like this before?
No...but I remember Adrian saying at the time "I bet that's the alternater"Anyone heard of anything like this before?
Surely there's got to be something in where max torque/bhp is achieved. I know the 2.5's are high revving engines but where's peak power - 6400 ish?
Rev limiter maybe at peak power or just beyond?
Only a thought as I'm far from an expert on any of this stuff.
Can't help with the bigger pulley wheel - although things like greater weight putting strain on the alternator either at startup or continually and alignment with other pulley wheel/s will maybe be an issue?
I will be interested in the outcome if you go that route though Steve especially as I have a 2.5 also.
Cheers mate
Simon
Rev limiter maybe at peak power or just beyond?
Only a thought as I'm far from an expert on any of this stuff.
Can't help with the bigger pulley wheel - although things like greater weight putting strain on the alternator either at startup or continually and alignment with other pulley wheel/s will maybe be an issue?
I will be interested in the outcome if you go that route though Steve especially as I have a 2.5 also.
Cheers mate
Simon
SimonJW said:
Surely there's got to be something in where max torque/bhp is achieved. I know the 2.5's are high revving engines but where's peak power - 6400 ish?
Rev limiter maybe at peak power or just beyond?
Only a thought as I'm far from an expert on any of this stuff.
Can't help with the bigger pulley wheel - although things like greater weight putting strain on the alternator either at startup or continually and alignment with other pulley wheel/s will maybe be an issue?
I will be interested in the outcome if you go that route though Steve especially as I have a 2.5 also.
Cheers mate
Simon
Rev limiter maybe at peak power or just beyond?
Only a thought as I'm far from an expert on any of this stuff.
Can't help with the bigger pulley wheel - although things like greater weight putting strain on the alternator either at startup or continually and alignment with other pulley wheel/s will maybe be an issue?
I will be interested in the outcome if you go that route though Steve especially as I have a 2.5 also.
Cheers mate
Simon
Peak power is at about 6k or just under, I normally change just after 6k. Had it almost 3yrs now and rev it like this all the time with no issues (2.5)?
Bondy
get a multimeter on the battery and rev the car up - check to see if the voltage goes up past 13.8 volts
the alternator should have a rectifier inside but it may have failed
a larger pulley might work - i tried a smaller one years ago to get an alternator to rev more (made it out of turned alloy)
i suggest you take the pulley wheel off and take it to a company that refurb alternators and get them to match one a bit bigger
there also may be another make of alternator that may be a direct fit - i have a granada alternator on my fiesta ! cheaper and has more amps
the alternator should have a rectifier inside but it may have failed
a larger pulley might work - i tried a smaller one years ago to get an alternator to rev more (made it out of turned alloy)
i suggest you take the pulley wheel off and take it to a company that refurb alternators and get them to match one a bit bigger
there also may be another make of alternator that may be a direct fit - i have a granada alternator on my fiesta ! cheaper and has more amps
The alternator we removed was not the OE item. Not sure if it was the same spec by a different manufacturer but the guys at Bruntingthorpe seemed to think it may have been a re-conditioned unit. Bothe the regulator and alternator were fried. All replaced with new and of the correct spec. Hopefully it will be OK now.
My thoughts on running a larger pulley came from a similar issue we had a few years ago on my race car where we were running the engine (and therefore the alternator) at higher speed than the original design speed (2000rpm increase from 6000 to 8000). This didn't produce over-charge problems it just vibrated itself, the bearings and its mounting bracket to pieces. Running a larger pulley slowed the alternator enough to eliminate the problem. Been in the car 7 years now without further issue.
My thoughts on running a larger pulley came from a similar issue we had a few years ago on my race car where we were running the engine (and therefore the alternator) at higher speed than the original design speed (2000rpm increase from 6000 to 8000). This didn't produce over-charge problems it just vibrated itself, the bearings and its mounting bracket to pieces. Running a larger pulley slowed the alternator enough to eliminate the problem. Been in the car 7 years now without further issue.
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