Starting 2.1 litre pinto

[MOC Chair]

After not being used since September and on sorn, I decided to start Gwynevere's engine yesterday. To make it easy I coupled an extra battery with jump leads. This worked really well , pumped fuel up and started the engine very easily.
l let it run long enough to warm up and bring the fan into operation.
There was only one problem; the alternater has decided not to charge. The ignition light had been showing faintly some of the time during the year but now it will not go out.
Well that has found me something to do. The alternater is only four years old but it has probably suffered from driving on very wet roads.

[milliemarlin]

Four years isn’t very old – even for a soggy one. I would check everything else first. Battery and ground straps would be my first suspects. Alternators are not cheap and it’s really annoying to change a perfectly good part.
Paul

[MOC Chair]

I will check the earth connections as you suggest Paul, before taking the alternater to be tested.

[Ye Ol Ripper]

Is the alternator a Bosch, as most pintos were? If so the regulator & brush assembly are all one unit & held by 2 screws on the back. After disconnecting the battery that van be replaced in situ & is a 10 minute job.



As a temporary fix,I f you tap the alternator with a piece of wood it may also put the ignition light out.

[MOC Chair]

Yes it is a Bosch. At the moment it is at a local Auto electricians to be checked over. Hopefully it is only the brushes at fault.

[Dane_Rescueman]

I had a snag with my Berli when I, stupidly, changed the IGN lamp to LED. I had forgotten that the exciter circuit in some alternators requires there to be a small current flow through the bulb. I replaced the LED with a normal 2.2W bulb which solved the problem..

[MOC Chair]

I collected the alternater from the Auto electricians yesterday and refitted it today. Success! It turned out that it needed the rectifier replacing. It cost a lot less than an exchange alternater. ( It is a Lucas not Bosch) As a matter of interest the engine started happily without needing a boost after three weeks idleness.