Elan Plus2 Charging Issues

[yosini]

Hi,

I suspect I have an alternator on its way out - but please hear my symptoms and see if you agree. A few nights ago I noticed the charge light blinking, as if there was a bad connection. So next day I cleaned the contacts and now the light doesn't blink but is full on at tick over, and goes to a weak glow at anything about about 2k. On the drive home tonight with the lights on (only 15 minutes, the charge voltage (on the dash) went from about 13.2 ish to about 12.3V. I'm not sure it has the stock dynamo on it, looks like an alternator to me (three pin square terminal on back). All the other wiring looks perfect.

Am I missing something or is it as I suspected? bit tight down there to get a multimeter, but if I could what should it read on tickover/2k revs? And where might I be able to get a replacement unit (assuming I can work out which model it is) before driving to Le Mans in it on Thursday evening....

Cheers

Joe

[marshalla]

Sounds, to me, like it's already dead. If it's a dynamo it may be the control box that's gone. Even at idle, with no electrical load, you should see something around 13.8V (alternator) or 12.7 (dynamo) or better across the battery terminals. If it's any lower, then it almost certainly isn't charging.

http://www.sjsportscars.co.uk/ may have something in stock - check the photos on the site if you aren't sure if you need alternator or dynamo.
If you need a replacement alternator, most decent motor factors should have something suitable on the shelf, or you could phone Steve at SJ Sportscars and order one from him.

[yosini]

Thanks Marshalla, Steve was very helpful and made sure that the alternator arrived in good time for me to fit it. Fitting it was a bit of a painful job, but it did the trick and got us to Le Mans and back without any battery issues. There were other issues however, but that is for another post...

Thanks again

Joe