[TR] TR4 generator light on FIXED! - EMBARASSING

[Paul Willoughby]

That was a bit of bad writing on my part.  I should have written "I restarted
the car twice and the light still stayed on (while running)."  Instead I wrote
something like "the light stayed on even after turning the car off and on,
twice".  Certainly ambiguous and confusing.  Maybe Prince Lucas has infected
my keyboard, too.

Paulw
Torrance, CA
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Brian Jones
  To: Paul Willoughby
  Cc: triumphs at autox.team.net ;
  Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2010 8:00 PM
  Subject: Re: [TR] TR4 generator light on FIXED! - EMBARASSING


  I'm glad you found the fault. With this wire disconnected, I am unclear as
to why the ignition light would be on with the ignition key 'off', as
reported.


  Never mind: as W. S. wrote, All's Well That Ends Well.


  Brian


  On Sat, Jan 9, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Paul Willoughby <paulwillou at socal.rr.com>
wrote:

    My charging light is fixed.  The smaller "F" terminal wire connector had
slipped off the generator.  Completely unrelated to bypassing the dash light
rheostat.  A quick tightening crimp of the female spade and I was back in
business.

    I discovered it on step 3 of Randall's troubleshooting directions.
Surprising that the car would run without it being connected and was even
still charging 8-9 volts.  (step 2).  Ah, the mysteries of electricity.

    Thanks for the help, everyone.

    Paul "red faced" Willoughby
    Torrance, CA

    ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randall" <tr3driver at ca.rr.com>
    To: <triumphs at autox.team.net>
    Sent: Friday, January 08, 2010 8:14 AM
    Subject: Re: [TR] TR4 generator light on



        The red light
        stayed on the whole time, even after restarting the car twice.


      Obviously, you have pissed off the spirit of Lucas!  Bright dash lights
      indeed!

      Seriously, it's most likely coincidence.  I would proceed to
troubleshoot
      the charging system ignoring the change to the dash lights.

      First step, repolarize the generator.  Not likely to be the problem,
but
      easy enough to do.  One way is to disconnect the wire from the 'F'
terminal
      at the regulator, and brush it against the 'A' or 'A1' terminals.
Reconnect
      and retest.

      My next step would be to remove the wires from the 'F' and 'D'
terminals,
      and join them together with a voltmeter (or DMM) to ground.  Start the
      engine, and rev it up just a little bit (fast idle) while watching the
      voltmeter.  With a healthy generator, it should rise quickly to 15v or
more
      (book notes to not let it go over 20 volts).  If so, the problem is the
      control box, or the wiring to it.

      If not, repeat the test by removing the wires from the generator and
joining
      the two terminals together directly.  If you still don't get charging
      voltage, the generator is sick.

      I've got a PDF of a Lucas booklet giving blow-by-blow testing
procedures;
      let me know if you'd like a copy.

      Randall