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MG MGA - Generator or regulator or?

Out driving the other day, I stopped at a store and the car would not start, had virtually no juice. When I got it home I charged the battery til it was at 12 volts, then hooked it up. The ignition was off but, immediately, the fuel pump cycled and the charging light came on. Any ideas on the diagnosis?

Jim
58 MGA
J Plegue

Jim - It sounds like the cutout relay in the regulator is stuck shut. I would suggest keeping the battery disconnected until you get the problem solved. You can test the generator by following the instructions in the article, Testing a Dynamo/Generator in the Other Tech Articles section on my web site at: http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/ I believe that Barney Gaylord has a similar article on his MGA web site. You might want to talk to Bob Jeffers bobj50@comcast.net about your regulator, he is the expert on auto electrics and also does a solid state regulator, if you need a new one that is much superior to the original and is built into the original housing. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks, David. Yes, I disconnected it immediately; thought it might be a problem. My research suggests a stuck cutout as well. And thanks for the tip about the solid-state regulator. I had heard that some of the replacements available can be dodgy.

Jim
J Plegue

This thread was discussed on 11/09/2009

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