14 replies to this topic

[daenesh]

hey guys..so ive been having a weird electrical issue and i honestly am just so fed up.. let me start with wad i have fitted on my car.. An air conditioning unit, auxiliary fan that runs all the time due to climate, electrical fuel pump, Radio with 4 speakers(kenwood) and all the normal bits like wipers, lights and so on.. now i also have fitted a VOLT gauge as to see if i have any drops in current and well yes i do.. my voltmeter is connected to an earth point and another to the ignition wire the one the ons when its at turn 2.. lately i've noticed my battery keeps dying and so i bought a new one only to see that my volt reading with AC, headlights, wiper, fuel pump, aux fan and radio when its on is 12V and sometimes slightly less touching 11V.. this is so peculiar and im using the rover alternator(i will attach a pic below) which has a higher AMP.. i am worried that some wires could be connecting somewhere? and also weird thing is when i press my brake or turn on my signal the voltmeter drops from 13-12v following the timing of the signal turning on and of.. pls someone help me.. im contemplating changing the alternator to a 80AMPS nissan one but its no use if its a wiring problem.. might just short something and start a fire..

http://www.minispare...px|Back to shop

mine looks like this but im not sure if its 70amps.. as minispares says..

[lrostoke]

May be an idea check the wiring from the alternator to the solenoid battery terminal.

Also what rating is the wire that runs from the Alternator to the Solenoid, no good having a 70amp alternator if the wiring was only designed take 45amps !!

[KernowCooper]

I would put a multimeter on the battery and take a reading with that sound like your car volt meter is not damper that well if you can see the indicators causing the meter to pulse, once you have checked all the wiring for a good connection turn all your stuff on and take take the revs to 3000rpm and take a reading on the battery to get an idea of whats happening back there. I assume the fan belt is in good condition and correctly tensioned?

[daenesh]

thanks for the quick replies.. well im not sure if its 70amps or the 55 amps version.. my belts are in great condition as i recently changed it and is tight as well.. im not sure of the rating of the wire.. im guessing its the original one.. i have a multimeter the analogue type.. sanwa made in japan and it reads 13.8 when everything is off and can reach as low as 12v when everything is on.. ive done the 3000rpm test and theres not much difference.. sometimes i even see the alternator warning light on but very dim..

[lrostoke]

Sounds like your alternator could be faulty.

Take reading with your multimeter directly from the brown wire on the alternator

Do same at the solenoid connection and same at battery.

see what readings you get

[daenesh]

Ok will do it as soon as I can I'll check the idle volts first then rev it up and check again..

[firstforward]

And how is your new battery holding up, is it OK?

[daenesh]

i have not checked at the moment but something weird happened.. i turned the ignition to 1 so the radio turns on and then i turned on the headlights and al of a sudden my radio switches off... this is peculiar

[tiger99]

The voltmeter reading is very likely just a symptom of a high resistance in the ignition switch. I would suggest a new switch, but first measure across it with your multimeter to check. There should be almost zero volts between brown and white at the switch, and hardly any trace of pulsation when the indicators are on. My guess is that you will find a volt or two....

[bmcecosse]

Sounds like duff alternator to me - provided the belt really IS tight enough. But you are drawing quite a high current with everything you have there switched on.......

[daenesh]

so heres an update.. no matter where i connect the voltmeter to on the ignition be it white or brown or green or the other white it still pulses when the signal are on or when i hold the brake pedal down it drops as well.. drops or pulsates between the 1-2v range.. and yet i know it seems like im loading up quite a bit but mind you this is the alternator that came with the first 1.0 and 1.3 carburetor versions which arrived in japan which had all the things i mentioned above fitted.. i finally got my rear heated windscreen to work but still no luck on the interior light and hazard lights..

[daenesh]

i have the original manual and im tracing back through the color codes but its really hard as most of the wires have faded or been covered with paint over the 35yrs its been around..

[daenesh]

so heres an update.. the electrician said that there is a regulator in the alternator which is not working properly and that is why im not getting the required amps and volts.. its gonna be costly to repair so since i have a 80amps nissan alternator, i might as well chuck it in and modify thicker wires from the alternator to the solenoid.. i know its not gonna be original and would look worse than my current alternator but i guess it will do the job.. also somehow i managed to fix the rear heated screen and then i went on to tackle the hazard lights which have not been working for ages and guess what.. i got them both to work.. quite proud of myself actually.. now i just need to get the interior lamp sorted and im good to go..

[cal844]

i would buy the correct alternator, phone some local to you parts suppliers.

[daenesh]

not much difference to be honest.. the fittings are almost similar.. had a friend using a clubman as well who was using this alternator for sometime(5-10yrs) with no problem.. here in malaysia a crap mini alternator can cost 50 pounds and above..