Small (or maybe not) project. 91 elan

[Tuga2112]

Some progress has been made regarding the alternator

[RonR]

Hi Joao,

The sandwich of metal plates contain the rectifier diodes, they're heavy duty types and although they get hot they seldom fail.
Once I'd cleaned everything I checked mine with the diode tester function on a multimeter.
Just checked my phone + camera. I'm afraid there were no photos of the dismantling of the alternator, and I can't say I remember exactly how I removed that bearing - perhaps Simon will be along soon....

[Tuga2112]

i have figured out how to get the bearings out without any problem.

the rectifier diode is definitely faulty, as the resistance across one of the connections is considerably higher than the other 2.

I contacted a parts supplier who didnt have anything in the parts cross reference for the elan's alternator. however after a bunch of picture exchanges with measurements they seem confident that they found a suitable replacement.
when i get that situation resolved i will relay the findings. But theres a chance that going forward we have another replacement part cross reference added to the knowledge base.

[Tuga2112]

[abmunro]

I had a replacement rear window sewn into my Alpha Spider by KISH TRIM in wearside

Did real good job

[Tuga2112]

after posting the video for the alternator being rebuild. i have spent the afternoon re-installing the alternator.

now on iddle the voltage meter is reading 16v which seems a bit high.
so. im going to add another thread on the electrical section to get some input from the certified sparky-es before starting the car again.

no video of installing the alternator will be released. because i tried to film. but clearances are so narrow that its practically impossible to get a camera to point at what you are doing.
depending on the conclusions about the 16v i may be refitting the subframe (and doing a video on that topic) or possibly removing the hood.

[chrism]

Aw, I feel for you...that's bad luck Tuga .

If it's any consolation I felt that your vid was really informative and certainly gives me confidence to have a go (assuming the recon parts are still available...)

Imo it can only be the voltage reg at fault? In your place I think I'd put the old one back in and give it a whirl.

The job was certainly worth it to renew the bearings and brushes, clean it out and 'sort' that overheated diode bridge.

Perhaps get another voltage reg to keep as spare if that was the fault. (What would be the odds of getting two bad ones in a row?)

[378S2]

If it is any use to you, here's my 'normal' at idle.

[Tuga2112]

so, the alternator situation is partially resolved.

atually, its resolved as far as the car being on the road. but as far as refurbishment i have all the parts, i just need the motivation to get to complete that project.
i may make the refurbishment job a small project on its own because thise one has escalate to the extent that no one else has documented previously.

the replacement stator seems to be a push fit, and im confident it will assemble fine. if its going to run in the car with 14v thats a whole different story, but i have one other hint from a memebr in a different thread which hopefully will be the missing link to getting this completely reburbished.


but now, on to other problems.

one of the back lights of the instrument panel stopped working. strangely around the same time the tacho stopped reading.... but even more strangely the tacho sometimes decides to read. so im not sure if there is a bad conenction somewheere, but my suspision is that the sender unit broke with all the alternator shenanigans

ive now replaced the bulb with an LED which has the same brighness the next thing is figuring out what has happened to the tacho

[Tuga2112]

the next thing is figuring out what has happened to the tacho

first point of exclusion was to swap the ignition coil module, since i have the original one which was working when replaced, and after swapping the "new" one with the old working one, the tacho keeps reading nothing.
the next thing im guessing is to check for continuity of the signal wire that goes from the back of the instrument panel (white/slate) to the ignition coils module.(brown)

if this doesnt demonstrate any flaws it could be a big issue to take the guts out of the instrument panel to figure out why the needle doesnt move at all.

wish me luck

EDIT

continuity checked and there is no problem in the wiring.
it seems the issue is at the instrument panel side...

[Tuga2112]

tacho (and by coincidence, both oil pressure light AND alternator light) issues all diagnosed.