Land Rover charging woes

nitro_warrior · Post by **nitro_warrior** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:01 am

Land rover time again i'm afraid but because some of you have all ready prooved your worth I throw you this problemo too. My mini restoration of my brother's sIII Landrover is progressing slowly but surely. My latest discovery is a lack of action from the alternator. The voltage across the battery remains the same (12.4v) whether the engine is off or the engine is running. Obviously the alternator is the primary suspect but i'm a little bit suspicious of it making no difference what so ever to the voltage. I'll take the alternator off to have a look but is there anything else I should be checking out?

Cheers!

cousin_cleotis · Post by **cousin_cleotis** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:50 am

Does the charge warning light come on with the ignition? the alternator wont charge if the charge light circuit it broken or the bulb has blown.

If the charge light comes on and goes out when the engine is started, check the voltage at the alternator, with and without the engine running to check for bad connections, etc.

Paul

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:01 pm

Thorough check of the connections is in order I think. Check that fly lead from the alternator (I think that model has one?) - a break or weak connection in that cable will prevent the alty from charging - as the alty needs an exciter current to start it charging.
Can you take off the brush pack without dismantling the alternator to inspect the brushes. Clean the slip rings up too, tarnishing on them will impair alty performance.

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:05 pm

I wonder if Baz will come along soon and warn you of the perils of electric welding on vehicles with the alternator cables still attached

nitro_warrior · Post by **nitro_warrior** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:48 pm

Jonno wrote:I wonder if Baz will come along soon and warn you of the perils of electric welding on vehicles with the alternator cables still attached

Ha ha, well I have been electric welding on the vehicle, but not one to turn down good advice I removed the battery and unplugged the alternator in advance!

Well thanks to you both more probing with the multimeter is in order I feel.

GadgetBoy · Post by **GadgetBoy** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:11 pm

Have you plugged it back in?

nitro_warrior · Post by **nitro_warrior** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:57 pm

GadgetBoy wrote:Have you plugged it back in?

First thing I checked! And for once it wasn't the problem!

GadgetBoy · Post by **GadgetBoy** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:02 am

Ha!

See what you did wrong there?

You took me seriously!

nitro_warrior · Post by **nitro_warrior** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:27 am

But that's the most likely fault with anything that's not working, is it plugged in or turned on or both?

Jonno · Post by **Jonno** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:53 am

Very true Donald, how often have you gone to make a cuppa and returned to the kitchen a few moments later only to find that you never switched the kettle on.