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MG MGA - Red (not charging) light

Driving home in typical balmy Melbourne weather last night, top down, moon shining, stars bright, red ignition light also bright!!
Checked generator cables, fan belt tension, battery, all OK. Light goes off when I hold regulator points closed manually.
I have a spare globe test rig (see photo).

Some "simple" tests, please, so I have some knowledge before consulting a 'sparky'.
My knowledge of electric current is sadly lacking. If I can't see it, it does not exist!!
Barry



BM Gannon

Barry,
You will need a meter, but this article has a good step by step troubleshooting procedure for the charging system. http://www.vintagemg.com/ArticlePDFs/Tech103.pdf

Jeff

Jeff Schultz

Barry

What is all this about moonshining? I thought you had a large enough wine cellar without having to distill your own!

Steve
Steve Gyles

Barry,
Just re-read your post. It is not a good idea to manually hold the points together. You can burn up the generator that way.

Also, since you show that test lamp, you probably don't have a meter. A quick test would be to disconnect both of the wires from the generator. Then connect both generator terminals together and connect one end of your test lamp to them. Connect the other end of your test lamp to the chassis. Start the car, but don't rev the engine(you would burn out the light). At idle, the test lamp should be very bright. If it is not, then the generator is bad. If it is, then the problem is in the control box(possibly corroded contacts).

Jeff
Jeff Schultz

Jeff, Thanks for your input. Have just run the test and no light!! I will pull the generator tomorrow and check the brushes, etc. It is a replacement Lucas and not very old, so ------
I will keep you posted. Many thanks, Barry

PS Steve, What do you know (or remember) about my cellar? B.
BM Gannon

With the generator out of the car, this article shows how to test it by applying 12 volts to see if it will run as a motor.

http://members.aol.com/PODtronics/generators.html
Jeff Schultz

I finally got it sorted. The brushes were worn down to tiny stumps! The rest is in good order so I'm back on the road again.
Barry
BM Gannon

This thread was discussed between 17/02/2008 and 24/02/2008

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