Can anyone confirm which wires go to what on the alternator on the K series?
This is in our mini. It didnt have an alternator as it was only used for hill climbs. We want to use one for track days. There are three wires. I think the large two should be joined together and back to the +ve. I think the small third one is for the ignition light. Or am I talking out my bottom????

Oh whilst Im on the electrics. The pulse for the rev counter...should this be on the +ve side of the coil
???

Thanks in advance

Rev counter reads off the negative side of the coil (ie the side switched by the points/amp/ecu etc). Can't help with the alternator.

which K series is it, an 8 or 16 valve? i have my haynes manual in the car, i can go have a look for you if you let me know.

this may not be very helpful but...

in normal use there is a brown cable going to the engine compartment fuse box, a brown and yellow going to the passenger compartment fusebox and it is earthed through fixing point.

thats according to RAVE (might be worthwhile you getting a copy, there is usually one or two floating around the internet if you know where to look).

if that didnt help let me know anf i'll see what i can do.

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Originally posted by Lightning
Can anyone confirm which wires go to what on the alternator on the K series?
This is in our mini. It didnt have an alternator as it was only used for hill climbs. We want to use one for track days. There are three wires. I think the large two should be joined together and back to the +ve. I think the small third one is for the ignition light. Or am I talking out my bottom????

Oh whilst Im on the electrics. The pulse for the rev counter...should this be on the +ve side of the coil
???

Thanks in advance

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Thanks for your help. Have tried it but does not appear to charge as the voltage is the same across the battery when the thing is running. Could be a dodgy alternator? The engine is 16v. We have a Rolling road readout at 140bhp...at the wheels. Much work and money was injected by the original builder.

Four different faults tend to occur with these alternators.

(1) Brush wear
(2) Regulator failure
[ (1) & (2) can both be cured by fitting new regulator brush box assembly see picture.]


(3) Diode Failure --- may show charging voltage but battery quickly flattens because of reverse current flow.
[Cure new/exchange alternator]

[4] Breaking of rotor winding wire due to fatigue failure where winding enters crimp connector at slip ring this can sometimes be fixed with careful re-crimpling & soldering.
This fault tend to occur more on engines subject to high revs which subject the winding to increased centrafugal force and vibration.
Rescued attachment image0.jpg