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Re: Looks like alternator failure--opinions solicited

To: MG List <mgs@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: Looks like alternator failure--opinions solicited
From: Max Heim <max_heim@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Sun, 01 Jan 2006 14:05:18 -0800
Thanks, that is what I will do, as soon as I get to Sears and buy a
multimeter (mine seems to be defunct).

I actually have an LH OD in this car. It has always worked flawlessly, and
while of course it is possible to have simultaneous unrelated failures, it
seems suspicious.


--

Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires


on 1/1/06 7:01 AM, Paul Hunt at paul.hunt1@blueyonder.co.uk wrote:

> First thing is to measure the voltage at the brown wire at the fusebox and
> compare that to the brown at the alternator, could simply be a disconnection
> between alternator and solenoid.  With a charged battery and minimal
> electrical load you should see about 14.5v on both.  As the electrical load
> is increased you will see the voltage falling - with the original factory
> alternators at least, many aftermarket units are much higher output and
> suffer less - and how much the voltage differs between fusebox and
> alternator is an indication of how good your connections are.  With no
> charge and a good battery I'd expect to see about 12.5v with minimal
> electrical load, lower as load is added.   However I'd have said that the
> overdrive would have been one of the last things to be affected, unless *it*
> has bad connections entirely unconnected with the alternator problem,
> although I only have experience of the later LH-type, I assume you have the
> earlier D-type.
> 
> First the warning light staying on, then going out but apparently losing
> voltage i.e. running off the battery, implies a progressive failure to me.
> Could be nothing more than the connector working loose, or something
> internal which could be voltage regulator, brushes/slip-rings, diodes,
> windings etc.  Whilst I have changed a diode pack in the past unless the
> symptoms are clear you could be chasing two or three faults, which gets
> frustrating.
> 
> PaulH.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
>> Several days ago, I noticed the alternator warning light
>> stayed on for maybe a minute after startup, then went off. Later that day,
>> headlights seemed to be dimmer than normal...




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