Electrical wiring issue

[Lolat324]

Quick back story-this is the latest on my Alpine. So '63 Srs 3. Dad bot it new, found it a few years ago. Great condition. When I got it back, it wasn't charging. It would run on battery, until is wouldn't. Change battery and get home. Hmm, figured out it was a bunch of things-bad voltage reg, put in a new one, polarized it. Ignition switch was worn out, replaced it, wired it up (correctly I think) now that seems okay. New battery, grounds all look good. Took the generator in, had it tested-worn out. Great old school shop, I trust, rebuilt it, and had me bring in the voltage regulator to sync them-,my understanding. I put it all back in. Now the story starts. First ( and this was a problem before all this) one of the fuses keeps blowing. Of the two fuses, the one toward the enter of the car. The second issue- even with the key out, as soon as you connect the battery, the generator starts up-like a motor. Just spinning away, slipping on the belt. The car does starts, the light goes out on the dash. This ain't right, as they say. When I got the car, the ground was to negative earth-dad says he didn't change it. Just back ground info. Any ideas-burning it for the insurance money isn't in the works. We all love the car....

 

[Tom H]

Lots of questions.
1) when you had the generator rebuilt did you tell them it was a Neg earth or Pos earth car? You say the car "was" battery negative to earth when you got it. Is it still that way or did you switch it back to Pos earth.
2) you say as soon as the battery was connected the generator started up, like a motor. But then you say the car started. So you put the key in and turned it ON - did the generator stop turning then? Or did it stop turning when you turned the key to the Start position? Or was it still turning but not at same speed as the motor- belt slipping etc? Or did you disconnect the generator before starting the car?
3) One of the fuses "keeps blowing". Under what conditions? As soon as you put a fuse in? Only with the key ON? Or 10- 20 min after you put the fuse in? Or a day or so after? And what does not work after the fuse blows? Does the Wiper, Heater, Fuel Gauge, Turn Signals, Brake lights, Overdrive, back up lights, and Horn work after that fuse burns out or is removed? What Amp fuse rating are you putting in?
4) Do you have the wiring diagram for the car? If not there is one here:
http://sunbeamalpine.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/s3_diagram.pdf

As a start I suggest you check all the wiring associated with the Generator and Control Box and compare it to the diagram. I hope you have the original wiring with original color wires.

Tom

 

[Lolat324]

Thanks Tom. I'll look at your list today, when I'm at the shop. I do have all original wiring, in great shape. I do have a wiring diagram. The pos/neg earth thing is always a wonder to me. I just know now that the ground strap is to negative. I'll confirm how the gene was rebuilt asap.

Thank you for the questions. I'll get some answers. BW

 

[Tom H]

Looking at your posting history, I see we went part way down this path a year and a half ago.
http://forum.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?threads/generator-light.27214/#post-188051
But you never completed it then. In that thread I see you have a pertronix ignition. If the car runs with the battery connected neg earth, the car IS set up Neg earth. A Pertronix ignition IS polarity dependent.

So what did you tell the generator shop about your car's polarity when you took the Generator in? Did you just tell them it was a SIII and then they looked it up to see if it was Pos or Neg? Or did you TELL them it was Neg earth.

You might want to go back and read that earlier thread, and tell me what the ammeter shows when you turn on the lights and car is not running.

In your earlier thread your main problem was that the Ign light did not go off. Now you say it does go off when running. What did you do that changed that?

 

[Lolat324]

Hi All, catching up on my posts and requests for help. First thanks for both. Second. a local old school mechanic in my area was visiting a neighbor and I ran into him. He was looking for a bit of post retirement income and bingo, I have a Sunbeam wrench on the clock. Obie as he goes by-awesome car guy history came to the shop and a quick 4 hours later had solved all my issues-to start the car was still positive earth, and had be set up negative ground. He reversed that, changed a wiring issue in the ignition, wired the voltage regulators properly, bagged the (now ruined) pertronix and went to points, set the dwell, points, tuned it, timed it and fixed about 10 other things in the carbs, the linkage etc. The generator is now well generating, and when the car starts, the ignition indicator light goes off!!! Victory! I'll take a bit of the blame, hell all of it. Bottom line, starts, runs, and bingo, Bobs your uncle. This is from a long time Porsche wrench-who is now going to do 3 other car jobs for me. Finding Obie might have been the best car luck I've had in 62 years. (FYI he was Mark Donohues first mechanic about 54 years ago at age 19).