Folks-
..
On Thu, 26 Dec 1991 at 13:18 PST Dennis Wilson
<DWILSON@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU> write on the subject of the drained battery
in his MGB GT....
>>> I isolated where the short was. I was getting a 10 milliamp current
flow from the battery (and a 1300 ohm resistance accross the disconected
battery leads) with everything switched off and all fuses removed. The
short is inside the altenator. I have a less than infinity resistance
accross two of the male conectors (where the wires plug in) and the car
earth. The third male conector gives an infinate resistance. This
third one is the conection to the warning lamp on the dash.<<<
It sounds like one or more of the diodes, or the voltage regulator
itself, have bit the dust.
I've never worked on the Lucas alternator (though try me on the
generator) but on the equivalent Bosch unit you can replace the
brushes, diodes, and voltage regulator. Better yet, they are all in
one piece that you can replace, usually with the alternator in the car.
And the best part is that the required part for many standard Bosch
alternators is a stocking part at _K-Mart_...
So why am I telling you this? Mostly because a lot of late model
"Lucas" parts are actually made by Bosch, and if that alternator really
is a Bosch, you may be able to get the parts at a local German car-
parts place, even if they don't have them at K-Mart. My experience is
that the Bosch-made "Lucas" parts are a lot cheaper if you buy the real
Bosch label.
However, I've never seen a Bosch alternator with as many connections as
you describe; which doesn't mean much except that it's not typical late-
model German car stuff. It might be typical of older cars, though.
Even if none of the above proves useful, $60-something to rebuild the
alternator isn't all that bad. Price a new one and you'll see what I
mean.
-Shel
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