Thread: 1987/88 Tacho gone dead battery light on ?

Have you checked the fuses for the instruments?
Both seem alternator related though but it pays to check the easiest things first.

Thanks for the response.

Making the assumption that the fuses for the instruments are located with all the other fuses then yep they're all working, except the cig lighter which has always blown when the ignition goes on.

If fuses for instruments eles where, let me know...

In a previous post you asked if the car was from northern NSW, yes it was, I now lives in Mount Macedon Victoria.

Paul

Originally Posted by paulhosking

In a previous post you asked if the car was from northern NSW, yes it was, I now lives in Mount Macedon Victoria.

Paul

Richard Terlato's car?

I'm not an alternator expert by any means but there should be 12v at the small wire for the warning light at the alternator end (with the wire disconnected). The idea being that when the alternator is stopped, this wire gets earthed inside the alternator & completes the circuit, thus lighting up the warning light.
When the alternator spins, the earth is broken so the light goes out. That's probably not technically right but that's the general idea.

Disconnect the wire & check for 12v. If no voltage there, then you have a power issue with that wire. If there is 12v, then it's possibly an alternator fault.

yeah, "Robert" Terlato actually,

but fuse location?

Originally Posted by paulhosking

yeah, "Robert" Terlato actually,

but fuse location?

Ok, his brother. That's a very rare car out here.

I can't help with the fuse location sorry - I can check in the workshop manual but I don't have one handy.
Hopefully someone more useful than me will be along shortly .

Thanks for the help so far,

yeah, it's rare, it's also really nice drives better than any other rangie I've driven, cold AC etc.. but trying to stay ahead of the maintenance is going to send me around the bend. Even though I do enjoy working on it.


Paul

Hi, bit of strange one, battery light seems to be stuck on yet the battery is charging, ie 14+ Volts at battery. Other symptom is that the tacho is mostly just sits at the bottom ie 0 RPM. Occasional blip from tacho during start up.

The battery light just measures the difference in voltage between the alternator and battery. Nearly all the time it means the alternator has no output when it is on as it is simply a wire with the bulb in the middle. Have you checked the earths on the battery and that the + is clean?

The tacho is tapped from one of the fields before the diodes. IE both outputs are separate.

If both are telling you that the alternator is stuffed then I would believe them. Maybe the 14 Volts at the battery is residual?

Regards Philip A