Ignition Light

[BYD]

Having completed a number of repairs including fitting an electric fan when starting the engine the red ignition light remains on with the engine running. Can anyone suggest why this is and if it really matters? I have disconected the electric fan and this makes no difference.

 

Cheers

 

Mark

[Steve R]

Mark

If the light stays on you are not charging the battery, this has been covered recently on the forum, search for dynamo and electrics.

First step would be to get a wiring diagram and check that the wires from the dynamo to the control box are correct.

 

Steve R

[Richardtr3a]

The red light is very important and there is my recent thread under dynamo fitting. If you run with the red light on the cables in the loom will be damaged and possibly the control box. Do not clean the points in the control box. New control boxes are of dubious quality and the usual reason for the red light showing is that the dynamo is not charging. Test with a voltmeter as in the manual. Some of the dynamo are also of poor quality. I have been wrestling with this problem for over 2 yearsand I have large stock of non working control boxes. See also the Star auto link.

 

Take care and do not run the car with the red light on for more than testing purposes.

 

Richard

[BYD]

Thanks for the advice. Wiggled the wires on the dynamo and hey presto no more red light either that or the 'self fixing fairy' paid a visit last night.

 

At last the car is back on the road..........Malvern can finally be forgotten

 

cheers

 

mark.

[Richardtr3a]

This is amazingly lucky. I have spent hours and hours working on this charging circuit. I should spend some time cleanong all the terminals and connections. If your control box goes down you are in for a lot of problems.

 

Good luck

 

Richard

[Don Elliott]

A technical point to remember is the following when you think your dynamo may not be charging (or if you think a wire may be severed or disconnected).

 

With the engine running, remove one of the cables from one of the battery posts to take the battery out the circuit. If the engine continues to run, the dynamo is working corectly. If the engine stops, then you have one of the problems noted above.

[Menno van Rij]

At first, I thought that your goal is originality, but then I read about the electric fan. So, I'm thinking that originality is not the main factor with your car.

 

In the '60s we owned (well my parents did) several British cars: 2 Minis, an Austin Glider 1100 and GT and a Maxi. My father installed in one of these cars, a Smiths aftermarket window heater . Remember these? Tin foil lines glued to the back window, with a 'Smith's' sticker on the outside!

After installing, the ignition light stayed on (glowing) when the heater was on. He worked with a ship building company at that time and the electrical engineers at the company told him what caused it. Soon after that, my father had an Japanse alternator installed. He must have been the first, I think!.

 

As we all know, most control boxes are getting old(er) and most new ones are inferior to the original boxes. NOS boxes are hard to find and expensive. So we all start tinkering with the old ones again. Which can be dangerous. And fire caused by the car's electrics is something that you don't want. (And I know that first hand... had my first Spit on fire in the mid'90s). Perhaps it's an idea to convert to an alternator. Imho it's the same consideration as installing an new electric fan: making the car more suited to 21st century traffic. And also adding more suited fuses.

 

I went for the USA-route and ordered a new loom and powerblock from Dan Masters. Lots of relays, lots of fuses and state-of-the-art wiring. (The colour-coded covering will not melt when soldering a spade connector to the wiring). I've also found a Suzuki Swift alternator (you can also pull one form a Kubota-powered lawn mower or mini-JCB). Goodbye control box.

 

(For the record: after the Maxi, my father drove a Morris Marina 1800 for a few months, hated it and sold it. Bought himself a Toyota Crown and sticked to Japanse cars for the rest of his life).

 

 

Regards,

 

Menno

Edited August 26, 2007 by Menno van Rij

[BYD]

I want to keep the car as original as is possible with any modification having the option to revert back to original spec. The fan is needed to stop overheating, better to be cool than seized. The car is to be driven and wont be appearing on a concours stand

 

Joking apart the red light was most probably staying on as I had a few fuel issues with the float chamber settings following a carb/fuel pump clean with several attempts to start resulting with a low battery. On the plus side all the effort of replacing brake pipes/ cylinders, new air filters (original before anyone asks!) carb cleaning etc etc has paid off and the car is driving much better than when I first picked it up. Off to Knebworth today

 

Mark

[ChrisR-4A]

Hi Mark, I have found on my 4A, doing about 4000 miles a year the reg box goes out of adjustment every 2-3 years, I think the adjuster springs must slacken and the dynamo output drops a couple of volts. Like yourself I run an electric fan which takes about 8amps and therefore the battery needs all the help it can get.

I also found about 4 years ago that one of the terminals on the dynamo loom was about to break off, probably caused by heat and corrosion. On many old cars these terminals have been replaced with the diy crimp type which can work loose and be intermittant, my solution was to replace both terminals together with about 10ins of wire and solder these on the bench before splicing them into the loom and once again soldering the joints.

 

 

Chris

[Richardtr3a]

Hi Mark, I have found on my 4A, doing about 4000 miles a year the reg box goes out of adjustment every 2-3 years, I think the adjuster springs must slacken and the dynamo output drops a couple of volts. Like yourself I run an electric fan which takes about 8amps and therefore the battery needs all the help it can get.

I also found about 4 years ago that one of the terminals on the dynamo loom was about to break off, probably caused by heat and corrosion. On many old cars these terminals have been replaced with the diy crimp type which can work loose and be intermittant, my solution was to replace both terminals together with about 10ins of wire and solder these on the bench before splicing them into the loom and once again soldering the joints.

 

 

Chris

It sounds as if you have had some problems with regulators. I am trying to learn as much as possible and would be interested in your solution. How do you know the adjustment is faulty?

Thank you for any help.

Yours

Richard

[Don Elliott]

If the adjustment is faulty (set too high - on the volts) the sign indicating this is that you are having to add a lot of water to keep the battery acid level up to the correct level because it's getting too hot in the battery and boiling off the battery acid. If the paintwork on the underside of the bonnet shows rusty spots or bubbled paint, this is another sign that the acid it getting too hot and spitting out the vent holes in the battery caps. When I bought my TR3A (brand new in 1958) it came from the factory with a voltage regulator that was set too high and the battery acid flowed out and eventually it rusted right through the battery box.

 

I changed that during the restoration from 1987 to 1990 and finally re-set the voltage down from the 14.5 or thereabouts where it had been factory-set to 13.6 as per the manual. Since then, I have had a bit of spitting but no flow out and I rarely have to add any water. I use de-ionized water. Since 1990, I have driven more than 97,000 miles and never needed to re-set the voltage regulator again. It is still the original one from 1958.

Edited September 11, 2007 by Don Elliott

[Richardtr3a]

If the adjustment is faulty (set too high - on the volts) the sign indicating this is that you are having to add a lot of water to keep the battery acid level up to the correct level because it's getting too hot in the battery and boiling off the battery acid. If the paintwork on the underside of the bonnet shows rusty spots or bubbled paint, this is another sign that the acid it getting too hot and spitting out the vent holes in the battery caps. When I bought my TR3A (brand new in 1958) it came from the factory with a voltage regulator that was set too high and the battery acid flowed out and eventually it rusted right through the battery box.

 

I changed that during the restoration from 1987 to 1990 and finally re-set the voltage down from the 14.5 or thereabouts where it had been factory-set to 13.6 as per the manual. Since then, I have had a bit of spitting but no flow out and I rarely have to add any water. I use de-ionized water. Since 1990, I have driven more than 97,000 miles and never needed to re-set the voltage regulator again. It is still the original one from 1958.

I have just come in from the garage where I have been fitting an expensive reconditioned dynamo and a bench tested new Control box. I polarised the dynamo and the cables to the control box are new with new connectors.

I fired up the engine hoping for a final answer to this aggravation.The regulator part of the control box was arcing quite fiercely and the ammeter was very active swinging in jerky moves. The cut out would sometimes briefly open and close again allowing the red light to come on with a short flash.

I changed the control box back to the 43 year old second hand unit and all seems to be more or less normal with no arcing and only mild flickering at 2500 revs.

The new box came as tested and guaranteed and I can not believe that it is not 100% I am looking for a newer second hand unit now as a spare. What is wrong with my new control box? These are not complicated but the trouble that I am having is unbelievable.

What do you think?