I played with the car tonight (at rest) to see if I could figure out why
my red light glows.
Background info: 1962 TR4 with a GM alternator conversion (55 amp). Wires
suspect but everything seems to work. I pulled most of the connectors,
polished, and re-installed.
At idle there is no red light. Turned on all available accessories
(lights (hi beam), radio, wipers. Fan motor is not hooked up (but should
be, as it's a major draw on the system...)). Still no red light. When I
rev it up the red light starts to glow. (not a lot! just enough to see
amongst the other gauges. It's not as bright as it is on ignition / shut
down)
Now, my knowledge of GM alternators is fairly good. I *think* what might
be happening is that the alternator is pushing more voltage at the
"charge" end than is getting to the battery, and the difference is causing
my light to glow. Where, exactly is the takeoff point for the light (the
one that takes voltage off the battery). I know where the alternator end
enters the harness. I rewired the lead with a nice fat wire as per Dan
Master's instructions on the VTR web site.
I would like to check the "other end" of the red-light circuit and see if
it's loose or corroded or something. If possible I will solder the
connector on after careful cleaning. Crimps are OK but tend to invite
trouble after 30 years or so :-)
The only other thing I can think of is to attack the wires at the
headlight end of things. However I think that's a big project (I should
pull the grille and fix the bucket... and the valence, and the bonnet
hinges, and the front fenders, and the right side rockers, and the floors,
and the .... yikes!
Maybe I'll just wear blue tinted glasses at night. It just occured to me
that I haven't hooked a voltmeter up to the car to see what sort of volts
I get. That's next.
-Malcolm
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