Dynamo Failure

[ashleywakeling]

Hi There,

On arriving home this evening my ignition light has come on. Is there anything besides leads being connected and fan belt that I should check before coming to the conclusion that the dynamo has given up and is no longer charging the battery?

Thank-you!

[surfergirl]

Hi guys,
got the same prob this eve with the ignition light staying on, have you checked the control box for sticking points?

[bmcecosse]

If the light stays on AFTER switching off - then it is indeed sticking points in the Reg box -disconnect the battery immediately!

[SUE482]

I would also suggest changing over to an alternator

[alexmcguffie]

As above, sticking points in the regulator. Disconnect the battery and give them a clean up with emmery/wet n dry. Should be good to go after that. Worth checking that the regulator contact opens/closes as you increase the revs from tick over and then back down again.

Unless you do a lot of night time winter driving you shouldn't really need an alternator conversion.

[ashleywakeling]

Hi Everyone,

Busy day in work today but the points are something i had completely forgotten about. Whilst I appreciate the suggestion of upgrading to the dynamo, money is a little tight at the moment so its something I think I'm going to try to repair rather than purchase. If anyone has a spare dynamo lying about that they know works, It'll probably be cheaper than a new one. Regardless, ill check the control box tomorrow morning!

Thanks again!

[bmcecosse]

The consensus is that the problem may lie with the Regulator box -not the dynamo... can you tell us exactly what happens? Do you have a Multimeter ?

[ashleywakeling]

It would seem so! Ill check it out tomorrow morning and will report back. Would this explain why the car has been very reluctant to start lately, and is running VERY roughly?

Kind regards,

[bmcecosse]

Could be...is the Ign light on ALL the time ? Or did it come on when you switched off at the end of the journey? Low battery volts will affect the running , to a degree - until it gets so low the fuel pump can't throw over. A voltage reading on the battery would help us diagnose...

[ashleywakeling]

It flicked on as i came to the end of the journey, but the engine was still running. I cannot get the engine started now. It turns over no problem at all but splutters a little then dies. Pulling out the choke seems to drown the engine. Leaning the mixture also seems to make it worse, so the fuel side seems fine. I have recently replaced the distributor cap and rotor arm. I need to get it started to see whether the points are flicking across in the control box, but i just cant get it going for long enough. What could be causing all this spluttering.

Even when running recently it has a horrific misfire.

Any help is really appreciated. I've only owned the car a week!

[SUE482]

It sounds as though you need to check the timing. Make sure the firing order is correct at 1342. Of course if you have replaced the dizzy then that might be faulty
Ian

[bmcecosse]

Indeed -why did you change the parts? Could well be faulty rotor arm - put all the old parts back on! And check that firing order... 1342 anticlockwise round the dizzy cap.

[ashleywakeling]

It is not the control regulator box unfortunately, ive attacked it with all ive got and its freeing off happily. Furthermore, the car will not start AT ALL now, so I'm getting a little concerned something disasterous has happened. Can anyone give me instructions on how to set static timing, not worded as it is in the Haynes Book of Lies, because it's written awfully and I can barely understand it in all honesty.

Thanks again!

[alexmcguffie]

Don't adjust the timing until you've put the old distributor cap and rotor arm back on. Put it back to a known good state before adjusting other things.

How have you proven its not the voltage regulator without having the engine running?

[ashleywakeling]

Success! Me being the idiot I am tried to set the HT leads up with 1 at the battery and 4 at the rad, easily done I guess. She now runs! When you say I cant have tested the contact breaker without the engine running, I didn't know it had to be running to check it! Learning lots as I go here! How do I assertain whether or not it is sticking?

I have bought the alternator conversion now, but if I can keep the dynamo, it'd be a nice thing to do in my opinion. Ill send the alternator back

Thanks again everyone, I must seem like a right muppet to you lot!

[bmcecosse]

The Learning Point here is - don't change anything unless you are sure how to do it - and if it doesn't help, go straight back to the old part, fitted exactly as it was... Otherwise you can end up with 6 things wrong... Is the dynamo now charging? You really need a voltmeter (multimeter) but a guide is to have the headlights on , and rev up - do they get brighter? This meter will do nicely... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LCD-Ammeter-A ... 2a3d7db8af

[alexmcguffie]

There's a reason its cheap, all the printing is kcab ot tnorf

[ashleywakeling]

I've got a multimeter here that I can use. What am i doing with it to assertain whether its still charging? I failed physics at school as you can probably tell...

[Trickydicky]

Set the meter to 20v dc and connect the probes to the battery, rev the engine and if the dynamo is working correctly you should read 14v on the meter.

[bmcecosse]

Yes -it's cheap as chips Alex - but good enough for Minor diagnosis... And yes - 13.8/14 volts will be fine. the battery should be reading just over 12 volts when the car is standing, engine not running.