Severe lack of power to lights ?????

[Old Mac Rocco]

Went out tonight to pick up s-i-l from his work.
Lights were OK when I left but started to get dimmer and dimmer.
Arrive at his work and got out to clean lights and when I went to restart car up NOTHING !!!!!
Had to push start it to get it going again.
Drove home 21 miles and could see nothing by the time I got home.
Stalled the car when reversing, battery totally DEAD, had to get Sat Nav out her bed to give me a push so I could park it.
Lifted bonnet but could see nothing but there was a horrible smell of plastic or rubber melting.
Symptoms - Temp gauge never moved from cold, fuel tank showed empty but had just stuck £20 in it, dash lights practically non existent, headlights very poor, indicators working, NO warning lights on, rubbery/plastic melting smell, NO power to restart car but car driving fine when going.
I have been getting an occasional whirring noise from my speedo cable since I got the car back from the garage but don't know if this is connected ?????
It was loud on the way there but pretty quiet on the way back.
Any pointers greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[ianaudia4]

Check your alternator and or the earth on the block.

[wasted]

Definitely sounds like the alternator; I had more or less the same symptoms last year. Replacement alternator permanently fixed it.

[bensspares]

Alt fault..to confirm this for sure, charge battery. If all working correctly after this and symptoms happen again you have the answer.

Check all engine earth straps.

[Old Mac Rocco]

Thought I had sorted this.
Found earth wire had not been reconnected to engine block after cylinder head gasket was fitted.
It had been tucked away as it gets in the way when working on the gasket, simple mistake to make.
Got a jump start and left the car running to give battery a boost.
An hour later went out and she started first turn YAHOO !!!!!! Problem solved me thinks.
Went to visit garage to give them a bollocking then went to get nails and came out of the shop and sweet fanny adams, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Phoned home to call in some favours and went for a cooling down stroll.
Back 5 mins later and tried again and she burst into life.
Quick phone call to stop the cavalry and headed home.
Light started to get dimmer, you know the rest.
Made it home and all the original symptoms were back low lights, smell, etc.
Battery now on charge.
About to raid shed to find old alternator, failing that, petrol can, rags and box of matches.

[MacColl]

I really do despair I just don't trust garages. Surely this is fundamental basic stuff for them to replace the main earth strap to the block!

I know from reading that it can cause all sorts of problems but not sure what sort of damage it may or may not cause

I think there needs to be a thorough check of all earth straps (like the carb one also) plus check wiring for any hot melted evidence, maybe relays? I'm just not experienced enough to know TBH. I suppose you need to establish the health of the battery and the alternator. I was able to get this checked at a local motor factors when my alternator wasn't providing sufficient charge. A bad alternator can ruin a battery as far as I know.

I would hold the garage responsible to getting this sorted or get someone of more expertise in and charge them.

My gearbox is out and both manifolds are off, next the linkage

I'll be in touch

[Nate]

the only earth strap i can think of that would be removed to change HG is the one going to the rocker cover. supplimentary earthing only, and more often than not cars will run fine without it. usual problems caused by this being missing or damaged would be with the ignition, not the charging system. the alternator is basically earthed thru the gearbox earth strap (much much bigger in comparison) and if the rocker cover earth not being there is stopping it charging then that would suggest the gearbox earth is deaded.

get it running, and check voltage:

1] at battery (across terminals)

2] at alternator (main +ve connection, i think marked B+ to the body of the alternator)

these should be roughly in the 13.5 - 14.2V range, and both the same. if they are both low this would point to the alternator being knackered.

if it's ok at the alternator but low at the battery, then check voltage:

1] battery +ve to alternator case

2] battery -ve to alternator +ve

normally, the 2nd one will be the one that reads lower, and this points to an earthing fault. make sure the gearbox earth in is good order. take it off the 'box and clean the area it attaches to. make sure that the wire hasn't gone green and furry, or gone brittle. if it has, replace it (pref for a brand new one)

if all volt tests above produce the same (good) reading, then try a different battery on it

also, when the battery is charged, measure the voltage at the battery whilst getting your butler to crank the engine over. voltage should start at more or less 12V, then drop when the engine is turning, then come up once it starts. if it drops below 10v ish under cranking, this would also suggest new battery time.

you're also gonna need to check all cables around the battery, starter and alternator for any signs of melting. also check the alt. belt for any signs of melting. replace anything that has obviously got to hot

[Old Mac Rocco]

Thanks for all the info ^^^^^^^ above Nate, going to invest in a multimeter tomorrow.
It would appear that I have an earth from the coil to the rocker cover AND ALSO from the base of the carb to the rocker cover ??????

Have had the battery off and fully recharged and things appear to have settled down a bit.
Also noticed that choke cable was very near exhaust manifold and the EXPOSED WIRE inside was F---ing HOT.
Don't know if this is where the funny smell was coming from and could it have been earthing here ?????
Need to order new choke cable tomorrow and eliminate this possibility.
Manage to get into my shed and find my alternators and wiring loom.





Both look pretty similar until you get to this view.



The Bakalite on one side is broken but I don't think it will affect it in any way.



From the wiring loom



I think this is the wires I need if I want to change over from a screw on nut type to a plug in type



I would have liked to fit the new one with the broken bakalite but I'm not sure ?????
Option two was to alter the wiring and fit the older one shown here as when I tried to touch the pulley on the one that is in just it was red hot ????
Another question is could the fact that my spedo cable is whirring merrily away have caused any damage to the back of the dials and could my funny smell be coming from here ????
Also could it have caused a short circuit behind the dials ??????
I am assuming the speedo cable goes into the hole in the right hand side.



This is the one I removed from my 1.8I and is different from the one fitted to mine.
From memory the last time I had problems with my speedo I was able to remove the part that goes into the gearbox and refit a new one but this time the noise is coming from the back of the speedo ????
Thanks in advance for all your help.

[DT1]

Yes, right hand side hole.

One thing you might want to do when you get your multimeter is check the continuity of the bulbs in the instrument cluster. Maybe even replace with LED's.

It's annoying having to take the car to bits just to replace a bulb.