[TR] Non-charging condition fixed.....at last

[Brian Jones]

Auto electrics find me not playing to my strong suit. I just don't  
have the particular gene for it.

On reversing the polarity of my TR4 a few weeks ago, I found I now had  
a 'constantly-on' ignition light. I followed the directions for  
reversing polarity from the VTR Tech Section on their website, yet  
found I had somehow triggered this non-charging fault.

Working through the test methodologies described in the Lucas Fault  
Diagnosis Service Manual led me to suspect a short in the wiring,  
somewhere.

Between extended work trips, I have gone over every change I made,  
plus new battery cables and new ground strap to the block. I even went  
back to positive earth to see if I had a spurious connection from the  
DPO that was a non-issue with this polarity. I've tested my generator,  
I've made up sections of loom to try to isolate the fault, and cleaned  
the contacts on my control box. All to no avail. The red light  
continued, and bright too. Brighter than I remember it had ever glowed.

I traced every 'ignition light' thread in the TR archives. A couple of  
posters even reported what I found - that on changing polarity, the  
charging circuit failed. Though none reported what their solution was.  
I emailed a couple of folks from those threads (from the late 1990s),  
but their email addresses were no longer functional, so I never found  
out how they resolved their issues.

Today, a new Voltage Control Box arrived from TRF. I cleaned the  
contacts, installed it, and Bingo - the light's out! I look now at the  
old controller and can't see how it has failed, but it has.

Had this new control box not solved my issue, a modern alternator was  
my next step.

What might have caused my control box to fail: when I awoke a couple  
of days ago, I'd been dreaming about this issue, and I remembered that  
in the process to reverse polarity, I had for some reason switched on  
the ignition, and then was distracted. For a couple / few minutes, the  
ignition circuit was live, with the engine off. Perhaps this damaged  
the control box? Anyway, it's resolved now.

Man, I've missed driving this car. With a successful test drive...I'm  
taking my car to Philadelphia today, for the ceremony where I become,  
after 14 years here, a US Citizen.

Cheers, all.

Brian
TR4, 1963 CT 14455-L
Valley Forge, PA