>------------------------------
>
>Dear Comiserants:
>
>Well, I've been under the bonnet of the B off and on for several days
>now. I've discovered many new and exciting things.
>
>1) Now, the dash indicator is red almost (but not quite) always.
>Fan belt is tight, coil is new. I've done a pretty good job soldering
>and patching the choke wire ... I'm getting good continuity on it
>with no evident shorts. No blown fuses. Wires at the back of the
>alternator are tight. Ground strap seems fine. Unless I miss my guess,
>at this point I'm going to have to assume (sigh) that my alternator
>is about to expire. Any last thoughts before I pull it?
>
I would check the alternator brushes as they are the primary wear item.
Plus they are cheap and easy to replace.
Another possibility (after brushes) is the diode. My previous BGT had a
diode failure so the light was always on but the alternator still worked.
Back then (late 70s),
I would have had to buy another alternator for $60+ so I
learned to live with the red light.
Of course there is the usual bad connections too. But I would recommend
checking the brushes as good maintenance.
David
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