23 replies to this topic

[bcjames]

Model:'85 mayfair with 99H 998 engine

Description of problem (please be as in depth as possible):

Hello everyone.

Had a little bump in the mini the other day. Someone cut up my (mini standard not amazing) braking distant and I hit the back of them. Damage is very minor as it was only a couple of mph, bent grill and slightly bent front valance.

Anyway, as it stands: Car sat for 2 days, then I drove it a mile to uni. Parking up there and removing the key from the ignition, the red light stayed on. An hour or so later I left no problem. Stayed a couple of hours parked up then outside a friends, red light on, and when I came back, the car wouldnt start. It turned a little the first time, then nothing.

Im going to walk over this morning and check what the battery is like, and if I can see any other problems by poking around. I just thought I'd post up here to see if anyone can offer any advice. Im not even sure what the red light covers, aside 'electrical', although I thought it was ignition.

Thanks very much,

James

[lrostoke]

Its possible the shock as done some damage to the alternator

[stormintrooper]

sounds like a flat battery and the fan belt wanst tight enough to charge the battery.....as for the light staying on i have no idea

[bcjames]

sounds like a flat battery and the fan belt wanst tight enough to charge the battery.....as for the light staying on i have no idea

This is very, very much what I'm hoping! I'll try re-tensioning the belt and then hopefully I'll find the battery is flat and its nothing more serious!

I was a bit perplexed by the light staying on all the time, never seen that before!

Thanks for your replies, both.

[Ethel]

If the light stays on when the ignition is off you have a short in the charging circuit. Ignition switch possibly?

[stormintrooper]

its it probably the fan belt as the small bump could easily have pushin in your alternator therefore slackening your fan belt...my henry was in a bump...fairly good one at that...and the belt was somewhat loose so the red light stayed on...didnt bother fixing it as i decided to remove engine and such so was pointless....hope you find the reason for the constant red light though as i never know it might happen to me when i put it all back together

[Asphalt]

As mentioned: propably a short due to a damaged cable. Plus the alternator isn't chrging the battery anymore (hence the red light).
Check the belt too - the water pump is driven by it too... Not that your engine overheats and the head gasket gets damaged

[lrostoke]

I'd still go with damaged alternator.

The red light is staying on with the ignition off and the key out.. Even a slack fan belt won't cause this, so its got to be electrical.

The red light gets a live feed when the ignition is switched on, and the negative comes from the small wire that goes into the alternator.
If the alternators internal electrics have been damaged its possible a live feed is finding its way up the small wire and lighting the red light.

Or the wiring to the alternator as been damaged and the main charge wires are shorting with the ignition wire.

It is possible fanbelt could have slackened but it wouldn't make the red light come on with the engine off.

[Ethel]

The red light:

When you turn the ignition on electrickery is sent via the bulb to the alternator and energises the windings so it can produce juice when it turns.Once it's producing juice the voltage at both side of the bulb is the same, no current flows and the bulb goes out.

You've got 2 problems, why is leccy flowing through the bulb when the ignition is off? Why is the light staying on when the alternator is turning (if it is)?

[GrahamF]

sounds like the small wire off the alternator is shorted to earth (bare wire touching pretty much anything metal on the car) have a look at the alternator and follow the smaller wire back as far as you can, my guess is that thebump has moved the wie and its touching something

[lrostoke]

sounds like the small wire off the alternator is shorted to earth (bare wire touching pretty much anything metal on the car) have a look at the alternator and follow the smaller wire back as far as you can, my guess is that thebump has moved the wie and its touching something

But would that make the light glow with ignition off ?? it wouldn't be getting its live feed

[bcjames]

Hiya everyone.

Firstly thanks for the replies.

As it stands: battery was giving 2v so I've got that home and on charge at the moment. By this morning, the red light had gone out, im guessing due to the dead battery.

Fan belt tension is fine. From the bump, it has bent up my grill, but has not touched or moved the two vertical bars of the front valance in the behind the grill. Im going to say from that, nothing physical has hit the alternator. So its either shock or a wire has shifted. Annoyingly, the car is about a mile from my house and net connection, so its taking a while to try out the things you all say.

Is the small wire mentioned in an above post the brown one that connects to the flywheel side of the alternator? It looked to be intact, and I unplugged it and re-seated it. I can chase that back up through the loom and see if there is any problem. I can imagine, if any, it will be cross the front valance section of the loom.

Two other things to point out. First, the ignition now goes red when off, orange only (when it used to be both lights on), and then engine start, both lights go out as per normal. Secondly, on the drive from uni to my friends, my indicators seemed 'lazy', as in not ticking t correct speed. My headlights seemed fine, and I didnt have anything else on, cd player, etc.

Is it worth me getting on the wanted subforum for another alternator?

Thanks,
James.

[dklawson]

I agree with Irostoke. The red light staying on with the key removed indicates either a problem with the ignition switch or with the alternator itself.

While the battery is charging, remove the alternator and have it bench tested at an electrical shop. If they say the alternator is OK, re-install it and the battery. If the red light is on, look for problems with the ignition switch.

[bcjames]

If, with the battery in place, so that the red light is on in its current state, and I disconnect the alternator, if the alternator is at fault, should the light go off? Thats with the key off.

Cheers,

james

edit: crikey lots of commas there!

Edited by bcjames, 27 November 2008 - 04:56 PM.

[lrostoke]

If you unplug the wire from the alternator making sure the wire does not touch the car and the red light stays on, then its a wiring fault.