hi....this week, battery light started to come on at engine speeds just above tick-over...gradually got worse....at same time, I detected a new whining noise from engine, an bit like an old Austin 1100!

Obtained new diode pack from Jorily......fitted today.....small difference but battery light still comes on above tick-over.

{alternator just over one year old, too]...

Whilst I suspect the alternator proper may be on its way out...and I still have the old one, whose brushes, I later found out, had demised....could there be anything else in the electrics that could be creating this battery warning light issue?

{have checked all known earth connections....but will happily do so again!]

It could be the old chestnut, the voltage regulator

It could be the old chestnut, the voltage regulator

darnit, that's what I meant to call it......'diode pack' is the term I used years back...yup, new voltage regulator fitted, but with similar results.

Seems strange a new one would be faulty as well...?? Will re-make connections, maybe charge the battery [no signs of struggling to start...even though my petrol car cam from new with a diesel starter....a pain when the old one died, as the local factors would only do 'exchange'....still, they did a'cost' deal for me, as it was the only one they had left...old stock, etc.....then I found Jorily sold the small starers, non-exchange, for less!]

To top it all, gained a chip which cracked the windscreen almost immediately yesterday...right in the bottom middle...booger.....MoT next January as well!

Wonder if I can con the tester into measuring the crack using driver's and passenger side allowances?

Maybe I should carry a pair of goggles just in case?

Anyway, back to battery light.......is there any way the voltage regumalator could be mis-fitted? I noticed a small amount of slop [read, ''adjustment''] in the fixing screws....

I don't think you can fit them wrong..if I were you I'd fit the new regulator to your old original alternator and try that. What make is the Jorily alternator?

the 'new 'alternator is a Vika....as are the two voltage regulators...

Have swapped them around this morning, as Daverapid says.......as far as I can tell, problem solved.

However, I did re-make the earth connection [memo, must make other earth connections too, from starter and another engine point..can't have too many earths....relic of the Rapid days...??]....

If....the voltage reg that came with the new alternator has nothing wrong with it other than one worn brush....would that create the problem..[ie taking more than 1000 or so revs to extinguish battery light]?

If this were the case....how come the brushes don't last very long?

A worn bush can cause bad contact with the commutator, hence high resistance at contact, hence low volts.

If one bush has worn fast and the other one hasn't, I'd suspect a defect in manufacture of that specific bush. If they'd both worn fast, I'd suspect a worn commutator.

Alternator problem sorted....and so is the hunting throttle body.....needed some wiping and gentle persuasion, and found a tiny split in the vacuum hose that goes to the charcoal thingy in the corner....chopped an inch off, re-fitted it, and so far so good, throttle body behaving itself ...

New [ replaced] alternator must have a winding fault developing, reducing its output.....it's a year old, so may go back..if I can find the receipt!

Edited 22 November, 201114 yr by alastairq