On Mon, 23 Mar 1998, Larry Hooven wrote:
> As i ended up with some sort of stomach flu, and the drugs the doc gave
> me are wearing off. i decided to busy myself with tinkering (not real
> repair, just tinker) with the spit. i currently have the whole thing
> off the ground, went investigating the switches mentioned earlier, and
> they do control the ignition. i discovered i can turn the engine over
> with them...will work for now...the alternator however is not putting
> out any juice (put a meter to it and get 0 when the thing is turning,
> same on the scope) so i at this point am assuming ( i know bad word)
> that the alternator needs to be at least rebuilt, but it's a original
> lucas (sic) alternator, 36 amp variety...now to the 2 questions.
You may not need to rebuild it- alternators need a 'bootstrap'- a bit of
power to make 'em go- before they will charge.
First you should check the condition of the red Idiot Light that goes to
the alternator. It glows when the alt. doesn't work. If the bulb is
burned out, or missing, your alternator will not be able to start
charging!
I can go into more detail, but then I would risk saying something
incorrect and the elec. engineers would pounce on me.
> 2...is there a bolt on replacement from another not lbc car that i can
> use and get real current out of.....like say a GM?? truck...happen to
> have one lying round.....120 amp....
GM alternators are generally chosen because the regulator's built in. If
you use your 120 amp one then you would probably risk frying all the puny
wires that go here & there. This applies moreso if you've got an ammeter.
It is possible (and not too hard) to rewire the charging system with *big*
wire.
> the oil plug in the pan wont come out for nuttin, tried blaster for
...snip...
> threads (slightly smaller drill than the threads) and remove it that
> way, question is what is the size of the oil plug so i can chase the
> threads and install a new one...
The TR4's oil plug is a pipe thread. Not sure if the spit is the same
(did it have a 7/16 square head?) I suggest keeping at it with the
easy-outs, penetrants, heat, and swear words. It will come.
-Malcolm
'62 TR4
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