1984 Granada BOA; small progress & Civic 25/10/24

[mk2cossie]

I have a recently purchased amp clamp for that very purpose blackpopracing

Shall isolate the ammeter first as that is easy to do, and also check the amperage draw of the fan when energised

I'm hoping it isnt the very recently rebuilt alternator

[mk2cossie]

So lunchtime today was spent testing the alternator on the car.

All things switched on, and Russell held the throttle at 3000rpm for me.
60amps out of the alternator, and just over 12 volts charge

Alternator whipped off to send back, and a phone call for me to make tomorrow

[blackpopracing]

That's a bit pants then.

[mk2cossie]

May 4, 2021 19:05:15 GMT blackpopracing said:

That's a bit pants then.

Yup! Just a tad
It would appear to work fine, until there is load on it. Shall bite my tongue for the mo, and give the guy a chance of redemption first tho!

[jimi]

Bummer, not what you expect out of a rebuilt alt.

[mk2cossie]

So lunchtime today (May 5th) I borrowed the courtesy car and shot off to PCM with my alternator.
Swiftly attached to the lovely old test rig, and all checked out OK

No drop out at all, and spun as slow as 700rpm it still produced 13.8 volts!
So some musings later, I returned to work with the alternator with the hope I find the electrical gremlin on the car!

Current thinking is that as I drove the car out of the workshop yesterday and it idled perfectly with no stalling issues (that it normally does) it may be the power steering pump causing the voltage and charge problems

(In fairness, the pump has never been out of the elements, and it is the 2nd pump I've acquired from wrecked cars)

[jimi]

Would need to be quite a load to pull the charge voltage down to 12v, or possibly an aux wiring (to the alt) fault ? maybe not getting full voltage to the alt ?

[biturbo228]

Yeah I'd start tracing bits back in the wiring and start scrubbing all the earth points. At least it's free!

Should be pretty easy to test the pump being a drain though. Just pull the plug and see what it does to the voltage

[jimi]

May 6, 2021 10:23:32 GMT biturbo228 said:

Should be pretty easy to test the pump being a drain though. Just pull the plug and see what it does to the voltage

Definitely, quickest and easiest first

[mk2cossie]

Alternator back on at lunchtime today, and road tested on the way home with the steering pump relay not energised.

It was better, but the voltage still takes a dive when the cooling fan kicks in

So either something amiss with my wiring escapades of late, or something I've overlooked

[blackpopracing]

Have you checked the cooling fan draw yet? It could be faulty winding in the fan motor?

[mk2cossie]

May 6, 2021 18:46:18 GMT blackpopracing said:

Have you checked the cooling fan draw yet? It could be faulty winding in the fan motor?

This is a possibility. Also need to get my spot thermometer back from my friend and check that the temperature gauge tallies with the coolant temp and that isn't also a resistance issue

May be a duff thermostat I have fitted not fully opening, and a dicky cooling fan

[biturbo228]

Just a thought. Are there any known weak spots in the wiring? On Mk1 Triumph 2000s all the electronics for the car go through the voltage gauge. Fine(ish) when you have a standard car, but any additional electronics starts issues.

Solution is to run another positive cable in parallel to at least the alternator so it can charge properly. Real solution is to change the body loom so it's actually got modern things like 'a fusebox' and other such wizardry

[mk2cossie]

May 6, 2021 20:09:47 GMT biturbo228 said:

Just a thought. Are there any known weak spots in the wiring? On Mk1 Triumph 2000s all the electronics for the car go through the voltage gauge. Fine(ish) when you have a standard car, but any additional electronics starts issues.

Solution is to run another positive cable in parallel to at least the alternator so it can charge properly. Real solution is to change the body loom so it's actually got modern things like 'a fusebox' and other such wizardry

Not that I know of.
And Mk2 Granada forums are few and far between now, especially with the loss of FGCUK that mr created many years ago

The ammeter thing hadn't worked since the BOA was installed back in 2008 (ish) and just lately the battery had been draining if left for more than 3 days to the point of not being able to start the car. Several suspect batteries later (which the supplier said checked out fine) I decided to sort out the soldered main lead from the alternator to the fuse box/ammeter/positive distribution box and do the joins with proper crimped ends.

Ammeter was then fully functional, but still the battery drain issue. Alternator tested, and appeared to be not fully functional after 200k miles. So that was refurbed. Also checked the earth leads for voltage drop and negligible voltage drop there (highest reading was 0.03volt between engine and chassis leg). Oh, and drain on the battery less than half an amp when tested with my friends posh meter.

So next port of call is check the distribution box, the cooling fan current draw, and the thermostat for correct operation

[jimi]

When you see the voltage dip are you seeing it on a multimeter or a dash mounted voltmeter?
Reason I ask is my MR2 has a voltmeter in the dash, when I use the indicators (normal driving) the needle dips in time to the flashing. It's always done it and it's common to MK1 MR2's I checked using a Fluke and the voltage is perfectly stable, I've not been able to prove why it happens

[mk2cossie]

May 7, 2021 15:33:04 GMT jimi said:

When you see the voltage dip are you seeing it on a multimeter or a dash mounted voltmeter?
Reason I ask is my MR2 has a voltmeter in the dash, when I use the indicators (normal driving) the needle dips in time to the flashing. It's always done it and it's common to MK1 MR2's I checked using a Fluke and the voltage is perfectly stable, I've not been able to prove why it happens

Erm, it is a voltmeter 3in1 thingy from the late 80s at a guess.
Seems to be pretty accurate so far, and the ammeter is the original dash mounted one for Ghia models.
With the steering pump not energised, it is behaving slightly better (still takes a hit when the cooling fan kicks in mind, but not as big a hit).
mr has suggested checking the amps for power drain, which is a possibility!
Spent Saturday at work changing engine oil and fuel filter. And making up a better bracket for the alternator
(Shall upload some pics of that later on this evening)

[jimi]

If its dash mounted, try comparing it to a multi-meter and see if they agree.

[mk2cossie]

So Saturday morning (the 8th May possibly) was spent looking over the tyres, brakes and suspension, oil and filter change, and replace the fuel filter.
Correct oil filter for the engine doesnt bally fit! So the old one was wiped over and refitted (filled with fresh oil too), and the fuel filter changed as the fuel tank was almost empty so gravity wouldn't syphon all the fuel out!

And whilst it was up on the ramp, I decided to have a look at the alternator lower bracket.
Since removing the original cast bracket for the PAS pump, alternator and automatic tensioner, the current alternator hangs off the right hand cylinder head and had a slotted bracket on a long bolt spaced out from the block.

Decided I could do better than that, and as I had some 10mm thick Dur-Al plate left over from my brake caliper brackets, would use that.
Many hours spent making that up/so it would fit, and my friend also popped over so I could fit a CV gaiter on his 340bhp Corsa C. As he couldn't manage to strip the shaft to get to the inner CV

So my bracket making started off with a bit of the usual CAD, and a piece of sacrificial plastic...




And that will live up in this dark spot




Fitted now with some reclaimed cap head bolt/machine screw, and also a pair of drilled and tapped holes now on there (I didnt photo any of that, or the finished article due to wanting to get done)




That was chopped and shaped with 1 of my finest 1mm cutting discs and a carbide burr in my 14.4v die grinder!




And the slotted lower bracket was replaced with a male/female rod end, so where it gets adjusted to is where it stays 
Seems to have kept the belt tight, but not too tight so far! 
Really should swap the steering rack over next 

[generalstirlingprice]

Years ago I had a 2.8 ghia and the previous owner had loads of battery discharge issues after being left for a few days,the central locking was firing the solenoids in the doors,and locking the doors but the relay, I think in the drivers B pillar,was holding the solenoids on and thereby flattening the battery,it took ages to find.It may be nothing to do with your electrical maladies,but is easy thing to check.

[mk2cossie]

Still haven't fitted the replacement steering rack yet

However, I did spend a few hours on Saturday sorting out the damaged transfer pipes on the rack itself. Hopefully the new ones don't leak!

So the rack arrived 3 weeks after my winning bid (and it being sent elsewhere in a mix-up) and it has obviously been dropped or squashed or even removed by Arnold himself as the fluid transfer pipes were all flattened on the rack body










The one above being the worst one of the lot.
So a bit of jiggery pokery on a Range Rover in the other day at work used some of the 8mm pipe in stock, and gave me a length of 6mm kunifer for the rack pipes

Had to reuse the ferrules, as we don't have any 6mm pipe ferrules in stock, nor do our suppliers!
So using my 6mm flaring tool, and very carefully bending the pipe so as not to crush it, I ended up with 2 new pipes










And yesterday morning was a bit of an excursion out to Sandwich lakes to meet my friend Paul and have a spot of breakfast

And very nice it was too! Nice to have had a catch up as I'd not seen him since goodness knows when! And whilst having breakfast, the on site chickens made an appearance 



Replaced the fuse for the steering pump on the Saturday as well, so the driving about yesterday was easier on my knackered shoulder!
Drive to Sandwich and back all went OK, no problems to report, other than the fan still kicking in whilst travelling along!

Which would appear to be a partially stuck thermostat