Thanks to all who responded to the "Why is my little red light on?" thread. The GM alternator is on. It cost about $50-60 and about 2 hours labor. But, it puts out 14 volts and can put out 60 amps.
For about half that amount, and the same time in labour you could have soldered in a new diode pack (rectifier) . I'm not a total purist, but a Lucas alternator can be repaired with a little patienc
I could have replaced the single bad diode for about 50 cents. Actually, I could have cut out the bad diode (it was obvious which one was shorted) and the thing would have still worked. It was putti
Says who? Should we get the word out to all the GM owners whose batteries are in jeopardy? I think anything under 15 volts is good. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm still working on the little red light.
(lightheartedly) Again, the true hallmark of a DPO. Whether it's an alternator, a 454 Chevy engine, or a black and pink whale tail, all DPOs have one thing in common. The inner and total belief that
You can only be a DPO if you sell the car. As long as I am the current owner, I'll take reliability and drivability over originality. You concours people can carry your cars around in enclosed traile
<<True, but it would still be a Lucas....>> Thing ran for OVER 20 years, Larry!! So your "point" is?? Ed PS: Have you REALLY looked under the dash/bonnet of a "new" car??? LOTS of "Lucas"<G>
Larry Miller wrote at precisely Monday, August 13, 2001 7:13 PM the folowing AND I quote: <<"Pretty simple even for you Ed. It would still be a Lucas.....">> Yep, Larry; TRUE. But WHY did you BIG TIM
Yeah, I looked at a '96 Cherokee that had suffered a dash fire. What did I find? :Lucas! What wasn't Lucas was made in Japan. No wonder if caught on fire. You can't mix ale and saki. Plus, I don't th
The NEW Lucas! When Jaguar went totally private and they got a handle on suppliers QC's, they gave them all an ultimatum. "QC your products to our new standards or we will get other suppliers." Lucas
-- "Paul A. Asgeirsson" Pa, Remember, though, the engineer's perspective (BTDT) - Customer (BMC/Leyland/Whatever): "Build us a turn signal switch for $30, a wiper switch for $30, a high beam flash sw
That's same labor the first time. But since all Lucas electical parts are now made in India, it is my experience that the failure rate is over 50%. So factor in labor the second time, and the wait f
Your points ring true, but I don't quite understand the conclusion becoming "throw in a GM alternator". It's not like GM doesn't have the same mass of tradeoffs between perfection and economics that
I disagree (a little, anyway). The GM alternators were clearly "designed to spec", as were the Lucas. However, the closer one runs any component to it's maximum output, the sooner it fails. The GM a
Trevor wrote: > Obviously I speak mostly for Canada, that's where I In other words, since all of the cars are imports, the possibility of finding common replacement parts on the shelf or wrecking yar
I could be wrong but I thought that most owns performed transmission conversions to have 1st gear syncro and/or a 5 speed. yes/no? jay fishbein wallingford, ct
There are certain parts which are absolute crap - the ACR series of Lucas alternators for instance, and good reliable parts like the Delcotron series of alternator - which is a good reliable componen
To be honest I think they are ok. Bear in mind that that must have been pretty much the first alternators ever invented - certainly they were the first range BMC put on their range of cars. Daniel131