[Jeremy Ashton]

Grease gun: did you lock the plunger out in the notch before unscrewing the end cap? Always catches me after I reload a cartridge. So cartridge back out, reassemble and reset plunger before reloading the cartridge.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Ha! This DS must be an end of run parts bin special. Definitely not RHD – I would have noticed that….

[Jeremy Ashton]

Fuses do not match what I see in the manual for the more powerful (haha) late Manual DV as there is a bank of 6 and not 4 fuses on the LHS, so a little puzzling. One day I will investigate what the 6 all do.

Work has got in the way of making the new alternator brackets so all the old kit is back in for now.

I have discovered more intriguing figments which I will post about shortly..

[Jeremy Ashton]

I think that the clue is “Car is squeaking a fair bit around those areas….”. If the car has not been regularly serviced then I think that it would be prudent to grease until you see good stuff emerging from the joint and it goes without saying wipe off the excess. If the old stuff comes out all rusty and is like really stiff lard then you know that the joint(s) haven’t been done for a while but are good now.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Here are the pics of the alternator regulator wiring. You can see my roughly soldered red link in the middle:

[Jeremy Ashton]

Too much is not a problem! Pump until you get pressure and then more until you can see th3 old (often rusty) grease exiting the joint. I don’t believe any of the joints will suffer from excess as none that I have seen so far have caps or boots that would be displaced by lots of grease. It is worth removing the front suspension arm covers as the grease points are easier to access than through the bunged ports. You can also check the state of the suspension piston covers for splits or leaks etc.

[Jeremy Ashton]

After measuring and marking out the brackets for the new alternator (Fiat Barchetta – my son’s spare), I put everything back and fired up. Charge light extinguished and battery voltage around 13.8V – so far so good. Backed out of workshop and closed up. Restarted and charge light remained on. Back into workshop.
poked about a bit and noted that no volts on the alternator EXC (+) connection – put 12v on there and alternator charges ok. Traced issue back to loose fuse supplying switched 12V to the regulator (814-1 gives the colour as mauve but on this one it’s white) – going to the front of the regulator – the only one on that side.

Tightened up connections and tried again – OK for a few minutes then charge light on! This time 12V to the regulator but nothing coming out on the EXC connection.

Pulled the reg cover off to discover a corroded/burned link between coils 🙁 . Soldered a new link and reassembled everything. Now works OK – took the opportunity to trim the EXC coil to deliver a charge voltage around 14.0 – 14.3V.

The regulator connections on this manual late D Special are the white (mauve) connection on one side supplying ignition switched 12V to the regulator; other side has bottom yellow to EXC on the alternator (supplies voltage for field magnets) then white in the middle – coming from the alternator Ind connection, which with the top red connection on the regulator supplies the charge light. with no charging the regulator grounds the red connection which causes the (no)charge indicator to light. When the alternator charges it raises the voltage on the red connection which extinguishes the charge light.

All seems OK now after an hour’s running about but will watch the voltage regularly- the lights do appear to pulse in brightness as the regulator switches in and out, so maybe on borrowed time until the modern alternator is installed.

Lesson learned – don’t hold more than one nut/bolt/washer when under the bonnet – spent a good hour fishing up dropped bits with a magnet…

[Jeremy Ashton]

Thanks Peter,

I will make up a custom bracket to fit the new alternator rather than chop it. Those clamp bolts are excellent so I will replace the dodgy old Fr ones too.

Accumulator! Sphere would not budge with regulator in the vice and a chain wrench on my own. With an extra pair of hands, more friction and a 3 foot extension and we eventually cracked the seal….

[Jeremy Ashton]

Thanks Paul, files stored now.
Accumulator swap – I did think of getting it off from below and had the DS on a local garage ramp but from below the sphere resisted all attempts to free it off short of attacking it with a chisel (!!)- the cross-member just gets in the way too much, so it had to be stripped out with the regulator from above.

The alternator docs are useful – the car is a DV variant (1975 4 speed manual D Special) so it should be fairly straightforward to swap out the old units. the 814 doc wiring, now I have looked at it, is easy to follow though the car wiring is a bit messy.

I won’t chop the old bracket but will make up a new one to hold the alternator (new 2-wire from Eurocarparts fits several Fiat models, including my son’s Barchetta). I have already made a new pulley to suit – and like one of the docs I had to modify a 24mm socket to fit inside the new pulley.
Once it is done I will share details and if anyone is interested then I could probably supply brackets and pulleys to suit.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Sounds like battery failing, especially in this very cold spell. New battery….

Jump off another running vehicle should do it – cheaper than a pack, but suggest changing battery first.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Does the engine turn over?
If it turns over, does the battery die or keeps cranking?.

Cranking happily….

At this point it’s either fuel or sparks – v. unlikely to be much else if it ran recently.

Is fuel getting into the engine – smells…

Sparks? Pull a lead out and stick a plug on it. Get a brave helper to earth the plug while the engine turns over and to watch for spark.

Drastic – a squirt of Easystart (ether) or a shot of petrol into the air side of the engine and crank it. Will confirm or otherwise sparks and may indicate FI fail if it does not keep running.

Poor cranking – failing battery. Check voltage, jump and change battery.

Repeat….

[Jeremy Ashton]

Looked into our Nationwide membership and moving to a FlexPlus account gives us this and more for £13pcm. No apparent age restriction on vehicles for breakdown cover either.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Thanks Paul. 4-speed yes. Looks like filling from the level plug will be the way this time.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Ordered fresh gear oil and manuals only give capacities and cross-section showing drain for 4-speed manual.

Advice required on fill and levelling points please.

[Jeremy Ashton]

Ordered fresh gear oil and manuals give capacities and cross-section showing drain for 4-speed manual.

Advice required on fill and levelling points please.

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