When your goo comes out

[ramjet]

Well maybe it's just me, but I am pretty sure that when this happens, things are not so good.

I was getting a flashing battery light for a while once I had started the car. It disappeared after awhile along with the oil light which flashed in sympathy. Once the car had warmed up, everything seemed fine. The resin has been leaking for awhile as it has made its way done to the under tray. I didn't recognise it when I cleaned the under tray. Now I know what it was.

When I removed the green carbon brush holder, one brush would move, the other was pretty gummed up with molten resin. After about 5 hours, of disassembling, cleaning and then reassembling, I ended up with this.

Put it back in the car tomorrow and hopefully that will be the end of the electrical gremlins.

I am hoping that this possibly has something to do with the interior fan not working all of a sudden. Checked all the fuses etc and it is not them, so hopefully for some weird electrical reason, this will fix it.

[Barrykearley]

Failing alternators can cause all sorts of electrical gremlins.

this week Nobbys been having a nightmare trying to level his motocross track with the tractor. Many of the hydraulic solenoids on it are electrical - and the alternator just wasn’t pushing out enough to run everything.

[ramjet]

I shall report back once I get it reinstalled in the Esprit.

[Jacques]

Same happened on mine. A new one if cheap, works well, and I used a few cotton swabs with isopropylalcohol to clean the copper rill traces in the alternator. Works well ever since. I'll bring another one if I travel abroad with the car

Kind regards,

Jacques

[ramjet]

Not happy Jan.

Multiple bark scrapes on my left hand. Many trips between the boot and underneath the car to retrieve washers and dropped tools. Lots of groaning and grunting. (59 years old) Much sweating.

And all of that for no battery light once the car is running anymore. (Isa mucho bueno!) I am only getting 11.35 volts measured at the battery or directly from the positive terminal on the alternator and earthing on the plenum. (Isa nota mucho bueno) Revs doesn't change the value.

[ramjet]

Spoke to Steve Taylor today. Tomorrow I will be back in the boot after work to slacken the bolts off, pop the belt off and rotate the alternator outward so that hopefully I can get the new regulator off so I can check the windings. As I had to remove the brushes to clean them and then have replaced them onto the slip rings, the multimeter readings that I took indicate that the alternator is doing nothing and I am only seeing battery voltage, I have to suspect something that I have done. As the only real cleaning that affected anything is the brushes to the slip rings, that will be where I start after testing the field windings I think Steve called them. (in the rotor?)

[thebartman]

I'm currently facing same issue - but I have no skills so I've dropped it off for a rebuild.

Black goo is, as we know, a manifestation of voltage regulator melt/failure.

Sometimes, when this is cold, there is no charging voltage to the battery. When the unit warms up, and to goo softens, (some have said over 3k revs) the charging can come back, and charge-light in cabin extinguishes. This is utterly temporary.

Also, within the unit, there should be diodes (2 per set of windings) e.g for a 3-winding core there will be 6 off.

When you test the refurbished unit, a check to see if winding the pulley forward should create voltage, winding back shouldn't.

Just a thought ......

[ramjet]

Oh, wait for this. Possibly a trap for new players.

So, where was I up to?

Oh, yeah. Rotate to get to the reg. Well, that was wishful thinking. Air can pass through the resulting gap between the reg and the plenum, but no useful tool known to man. So out comes the alternator again.

So, albeit with my limited electrical experience, I dutifully do all sort of continuity checks and everything 'appears' to be ok. Remember this, as it is REALLY relevant. There was one little fitting that never seemed to have continuity anywhere, but it is insulated from the alternator body and with my vast untapped resources of electrical prowess (read 'haven't got a $%%#@#$ clue) Maybe it only has continuity when the alternator is making electricities.

So back into the boot and let's bolt it all back in again. Aww rats!!! Now I am going to have to take the undertray off as I dropped the pivot bolt washer and it has gone down and landed on the tray and is very proficient at 'hide and seek'.  And there was I thinking that washers were not cognisant. This one certainly is. Undertray off. Victory! Found the little flat, round mongrel. No. I am not putting the under tray back on yet. Do you think I am an idiot?

So all back together, tighten, check and start.

Moment of truth right here. Multimeter on the battery terminals and.............Woe is me!! 11.35V and not an ounce of extra voltage goodness to make me believe in myself. Did I mention that my left hand had all sorts of bark scrapes and was mighty stingy when washing my hands?

So what could it be? Undo everything and pull it out again and back to the workbench. Oh I couldn't have, could I? Is it possible with all of my brightness, I have attached the red regulator wire to the green holder spade and the green regulator wire to the red holder spade? Off with the reg again and.......... Rats!. The wires are correct.

What can it be? Is my car smart enough that if it keeps throwing problems at me, that I won't sell it? Nah, couldn't be, though that flat washer did have me thinking.

Right, you rotten (and slowly getting heavier) alternator, apart again you will be. Ten minutes later, workbench strewn with the skeletal remains of the alternator. Multimeter out. Continuity checks and away we go. All sorts of silly stator winding combinations and I get the same result pretty much everywhere. Green holder for the slip ring brushes? All checks out there as to what I would expect. Not difficult, that bit.

Red holder wire goes to the little post that has a spade fitting on the outside of the alternator when assembled. You know the one? It has the little wire going to it once the alternator is in. I have had it explained to me that it supplies 12V to the wizgidgery in the regulator to make it go "Oooo. Let's start charging!" OK then. Continuity from the post to the red holder spade. Nothing. Scratch the probes on both surfaces so my multimeter doesn't get all self aware and play a prank on me. Nothing. Ok. Inside the stator if I turn it upside down, you can see the terminal on the wire that comes from the red holder that attaches to the bolt that goes through the insulator that is in the alternator, and we all fall down. Nope. Different song.

Terminal to red holder spade. Continuity, so no broken wire. This is good.

Bolt to red holder spade?. Gott in Himmel! Nothing! Nein! Oh. It's not tight. Let's put the nut on the outside and tighten. That'll fix it. Nope. Strike 437.

You think this is taking a long time to read? You want to be imbued in the ongoing saga! When will it end?

Right then. Let's get real close together in the circuit. The bolt to the terminal fitting directly inside the alternator body. Zip. You can't be serious! It's right there! The little bolt goes right through the terminal. I've cleaned out all the goo. No. I am not taking you to an auto electrician. No matter how many times you bamboozle me. You filthy rotten schwein alternator.

Hang on. Hang on. Do my eyes deceive me? Is the head of the bolt that goes through the insulator... Cut it out ya' moron! Is it slightly out of line with the hexagonal molding of the insulator? Could this be the source of all of my issues? Out with a little screwdriver. Wedge in here, try to move the head of the bolt. Gosh, that's a bit tight. And then the head comes free, my right hand now follows through on the line of force and bashes into the alternator making me lose bark on that hand and use four letter words <insert your own words here> in exclamation! Put the outside insulator bit on the little bolt plus the electrical spade and tighten the nut on the bolt ensuring that the stoopid thing does not go all twisty again on the inside.

And check for continuity between all of the metal bits now and everything is as it should be and now the bolt to the red holder spade DOES have continuity. What annoyed me most about this development was that I knew in my heart of hearts that this was it. The problem had been solved. Did I need to test it in the car? Noooo. I knew it was going to work now.

The trouble is, cars don't continue to behave very well unless they have a working alternator. My left hand hurts. I know I am putting off the inevitable. Any way, one must endure. If it was easy, everyone would have an Esprit. And since I have only seen two other Esprits in Victoria, they must not be easy.

So put it all back in. Again. I don't know how many times that is now, but it is more than one. Due to my hands having been debarked in different places, they hurt being subjected to the same things that hurt them in the first place. The alternator is back in and just to spite it, I am not going to tighten it all up and test it. Tighten tomorrow. Dinner now.

Go to work. Do I think about it? Of course I do. Have to use hand cleaner every time before and after ablutions and the stingy thing happens every so often.

Home now. Spanners out. Alternator tightened. battery reconnected. And............start and test.............?

14.12V at idle. Stoopid summbitch.

Bolted the undertray back on. Locked car. Went inside. Went to ebay and bought a lathe and mill combo for fixing clocks.

[Chillidoggy]

Reading the above, I'd give the clock-fixing a miss, if i were you.

[Sparky]

Goo came out of my ears after reading it.

[snowrx]

I went around a few of those rotations, and tried a different alternator before I realized I had jostled the charging light bulb out of its socket in the opposite end of the car.....

[MrDangerUS]

Old Valeo has a flat power curve, which "kicks in" at the much higher rpm. Esprit power demand is high. Most of the time, OE alternator has to work at the maximum (100%) of its output for long periods of time melting the regulator. Electric components should never be allowed to work at levels higher than 80% of their capacity, otherwise they'll burn out. Rebuilding the old 90A machine = polishing old turd. There are modern alternators on the market, more reliable and more powerful.

(picture below is just for illustration purpose only, not an actual Valeo curve)

[ramjet]

So a week ago, I take the Esprit out for its Sunday run to keep things moving. Change gear going up the hill and the radio turns off. I think to myself, "Maybe I hit the power button". All of a sudden, the radio turns back on. Then it does the off/on thing again. Hmmm, that's new. Get to the corner and put the indicator on. No indicator. Hmmm, that's new.

Think to myself, I'll try some other electric thingamys. Headlights. Push the button. No headlights. Hmmm, that's new too.

U-turn and head home immediately. Waiting in the driveway for the garage door to open. 2 cylinders all of a sudden and the S4 sounds like a tractor. Hmmm THAT'S new as well. I get it into the garage, but only just. Glad it didn't do that out on the road.

So test the battery. 11.6 volts. Get the car started, rough though and no indication that the alternator is charging. Belt was still on. I didn't check the ignition light with all the goings on. Got the alternator out again and it is on the bench and everything appears to be ok. Slightly higher resistance reading through the brushes and the rotor. Should show about 3.5. I'm getting around 8.

Have to find one of the washers from the long bolt that the alternator pivots on. Always drop the bloody things.

Working one weekend and not working the next. Who knew?

[ramjet]

Well it is all back together and sitting on the bench waiting to go back in. Cleaned up the slip rings about and an getting a nice 3.6 ohms across the brushes. I'll get some new nylocs as the ones on the long bolt and the adjustment bolt are all a bit weary. Found the missing washer in the last place I looked, so happy about that.

Tested the exciter wire to make sure I am getting 12V there and that is all good, so at this point until I get it in again, I won't know much more.