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Title: Senders and Alternators Post by: tonylanciabeta on December 20, 2008, 11:58:49 PM From: Beta_Matt (Original Message) Sent: 12/10/2008
As both of my alternators are getting a little tired (I get the gentle red light "Glow" when using things like heater and wipers) I'd like to renovate both with new brushes & regulators. But having never done this before (always resorted to getting a new alternator) I'm guessing nowadays the chances of getting a brand new one is slim to say the least. Can anyone point me in the direction of someone who either sells the parts brushes & regulators or actually perform the renovations? Also, I need to replace the water temp senders and I also need the oil temp sender (but for my other Lancia project) - does anyone have the part numbers for these items? One main beam to replace, a front bumper to renovate and a steering gaitor to fit and then I'm done :-) As always, any info is much appreciated From: hutch6610 Sent: 12/10/2008 You have one of three possible alternators that could be fitted - Marelli, Bosch or Ducellier - first two being the most common. Bosch is the easiest because both brushes and regulator are one unit, Marelli has them as two separate units - brushes and regulator (some nice photos in the Haynes manual illustrates what i mean) Ducellier you may as well forget! Unless the main unit is sound, by that i mean the the copper commutator is not worn out and the bearings are all good then i would not advise you to try reconditioning it, chances are slim and something will need changing which is beyond your capability - no offense, you got a lathe and a bearing press? I cannot recommend you a big name re-conditioner because i only trust one person who is in Potters Bar and i bet that's miles from you. The "Glow" you talk about is not aways associated with a duff alternator but the fuse box, check the two large spade connections either side of the fuse box for overheating and cheap crimp on spades connections - by that i mean the soft steel ones with the coloured plastic sheath around the base. Total rubbish because they overheat within a few days and your back to square one. Never actually seen a Beta that did not do the alternator glow - just to varying degrees of brightness depending on the fuse box condition. Something i would advise any Beta owner to invest in is an alternator/battery tester from Screwfix - part no 14456-90 - at £8.50 odd tells you how good your battery is and also tells you your alternator output, if it reads fine you don't need an alternator rebuild. Can't give you a part number for the water and oil temp switches but they are one and the same - just fitted in different places. From: Beta_Matt Sent: 12/10/2008 Hi Hutch, Agreed all Betas I've owned in the past have the "glow". My fusebox has had the actual fuse terminals polished up by the dremel / tiny orbital polisher and I've replaced all the fuses. Will remove the two spade terminals and see what I can do with them. As both alternators seem to be doing pretty much the same thing the spade terminals are definately worth investigating. Battery is good as its brand new. At least I know now that I just need three temp senders so only have one p/n to find ! :-) Cheers PS - I'm not worried about distance - last weekend I did a 9 hour round trip just to collect a new windscreen for the other project! From: hutch6610 Sent: 13/10/2008 Ahhhh.................but where in the UK are you? I can give you the details of "Reginald" in Potters bar if you want - he never cuts corners, a real "gentleman" Something you have to remember about fuse boxes on Betas - although they look fine on the outside - clean tidy as i bet yours does, have you ever looked inside? Spaghetti (no surprise) junction of "spaded" wires inside - going to remove as many spades as possible and solder them direct, should cut down any resistance. Do buy yourself the tester i mentioned - has a series of LED indicators three giving you the condition of the battery and two more for the alternator output (while running obviously). No messing with multimeter's, absolutely fool proof - that's why i use one! The two large spades either side don't last forever and the rubber boots which protects them (if still intact) hide the fact that you have any problems visually - but your nose can pick up the burning, smells rather like dropping a soldering iron on a carpet. One other thing is the original lead battery terminals but i doubt you have a problem with these. What happens is that over time they loosed off - i think they are "squeezed" onto the cable - they just come out eventually. I had a starting issue myself and noticed the terminals were hot, on pulling the cables the earth side came out and i could see the "arching" that had been going on, the positive side was not that much better. Will post the alternator mans details soon if you want? From: Beta_Matt Sent: 14/10/2008 I checked the two large spade terminals and they were in very good shape, as are the rubber boots that cover them. As you say the issue with the resistance may well be inside the fuse box, but will go there as a last resort. The battery terminals have the original old lead clamps, I've not had any other electrical issues but h have new clamps to replace the old ones, but only to rule another thing out. I've had no small of burning, no starting issues or hot cables/terminals. So maybe I should just open up the fuse box and solder the circuits for the heater?? I have re-crimped new ends onto the alternator cables (at the alternator end only) because they had been bent back and forth over the years and the ends were a little frayed. Going back to the subject of temperature senders, I have since found that the oil temp sender is actually different, it has a higher switching setting to the water temp version. Externally though they look identical. Potters Bar isn't a million miles from me, (Farnborough, Hants) but I'll wait until I've investigated the fuse box internals before I go down that route. Thanks again, From: rossocorsa Sent: 14/10/2008 as regards the dull glow they all do that! I wouldn't over worry about it |