Morning again

Thought i'd post all my stupid electrical questions in one go rather than prolong everyones agony.

I fitted a Micra alternator to my pinto Indy using a Vicky Green loom. Due to the wrinig of the alternator this quickly flattened my battery as one of the alternator connections was permenantly connected to the battery.

The easiest solution i can see is to remove the connection from the starter motor that runs to the alternator and instead make it a switched positive rather than at the moement being permenant.

As my coil is mounted directly above the starter would there be a problem to route this wire instead to the poistive on the coil?

I believe it connection is only for the wanrning light as the wire is a tghin brown not the thick one (I'm dense with electrics but not that dense)

Could anyone here with more knowledge tell me any reason why this wouldn't be a good thing to do as the coil is 'off' with the igintion?

Cheers as always witgh the patience explaining things it's appreciated.

Cheers
Nigel

Alternator thick charge cable is connected to + on battery. Thin one comes from the ignition switch through the battery warning light then to the alternator. Coil is also only live from the ignition switch.

If the alternators charge terminal is showing an earth then it is faulty.

[Edited on 19/2/08 by Mr Whippy]

i've got the same set up and never had the problem with the battery draining. do you have some other circuit live, such as lights but with no bulbs?

what age is your micra alternator? is it faulty?

ditch

cheers for replying but i'm non the wiser. At present with the vicky green loom I have a thick and thin brown connected to the starter.

The thin then goes to the alternator plug. Because it is connected to the starter, therefore the battery it's always live and flattens the battery. I was going to remove from starter and instead connect to coil which is controlled by ignition.

So is this okay to do or bad for some reason, sorry my wording in original post probably wasn't clear.

Cheers
Nigel

this is the live circuit for charging and ign

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quote:

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Originally posted by jabbahutt
cheers for replying but i'm non the wiser. At present with the vicky green loom I have a thick and thin brown connected to the starter.

The thin then goes to the alternator plug. Because it is connected to the starter, therefore the battery it's always live and flattens the battery. I was going to remove from starter and instead connect to coil which is controlled by ignition.

So is this okay to do or bad for some reason, sorry my wording in original post probably wasn't clear.

Nigel

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i have the vickky g Loom, Micra alternator and the Pinto too.

i have made no alterations to the loom other than the cutting off of the ford alternator plug and fitting spade and ring connectors to allow it to be connected to the alternator. my alternator also has an earth strap.

i have had no battery discharge problems even with months of standing idle the car not me

there must be a circuit some where that is constantly live to cause a discharge. the most common is a faulty lightbulb. could the charge light be faulty and causing a circuit? leave the small cable off and monitor the situation.

ditch

getting there now, the problem is the thin brown at present is not controlled by ignition, it only runs from starter to alternator so if I simply remove it from starter and instead connect it to coil I'll of changed it from perm live to switched.

If I've got that right there's no reason I can't finish off that side of the wiring and fire up the car properly.

Cheers
Nigel

Ditch

Cheers for the help, however the battery will drain if everything including igntion switch is disconneted.

I've put a multimeter across the battery and alternator and there is only a drain when the thin brown is connected as it only runs from the starter to the alternator and as the starter is connected to the battery this allows a constant circuit even with everthing disconnected.

So either my loom is wired slightly wrong or my alternator is faulty or I'm thick

number three is most likely I just want to run the engine, check the charging system and be able to leave everything connected without worrying about it.

Cheers
Nigel

this brown wire should not be connected at all to the starter, as the main wire is always live and the thinner one which controls the solenoid is only live when the ignition switch is turned to the start position.

Cut the wire and heatwrap the end. Get a new wire 5A stuff and run a wire from your ignition switch, through the battery charge light and then onto the altinator.

As Mr Whippy says, fat wire to starter (or even battery).

Thin wire to charge bulb.

HTH,
James

[Edited on 19/2/08 by James]