Thread: Dance of the SIII Electrical System...

Hey everybody, I am currently doing the 'dance' of the electrical system in my Series 3 82' 109" Hardtop.

It started with usual Series problems but nothing major, and has now progressed to the stage of fix me or else!

To begin, the fuel gauge rarely worked. I followed all the instructions in the manual and the gauge checked out fine, and so did the conductivity between the tank and the earth. I figured it was the sender/float and have not done anything else.

When I put the dash back together, I noticed the radio was not working. The end result of this was that the last fuse at the bottom of the fuse rack kept blowing when put in and the radio seemed to be wired to this. Okay, so no problem, nothing else seems to be running off the fuse so I didn't replace it.

Just recently, the charge light has been coming on and getting brighter with the revs. It was still flashing randomly though and going on and off. I travel to work every morning with my lights on and haven't noticed a change in my battery charge so assumed in the end it just to be a loose connection. I confirmed this today by hitting a few bumps and the light going off and then on when I hit another.

On the way home from work today, I noticed my indicators going a bit slower than the usual matrix style speed that they flash at. Then they stopped flashing all together. Then they started again. Then I realised they only stopped flashing when I had my foot on the brake pedal! Then I noticed the fuel gauge working!

It has a Holden red 186 motor with a Cole Hersey battery switch. No 2nd battery though.

So it seems my electrical system is starting to resemble a dog's breakfast! Where do I start with all this? I am no electrician but I can use a metre and follow/read instructions and diagrams, but I need Lucy the Land Rover to take me to work and back (70km round trip) 5 days a week at the moment.

Any help or advice will be much appreciated. I have already got way to much to do this weekend and need to have a look at her now as well. Any pointers that will save me time in what to check will be much appreciated!

Cheers

Nathanial

Make sure you have got a good clean earth from the battery to the engine, and one from engine to chassis, or battery to chassis. The army rovers have nearly every panel earthed with individual wires to the chassis. Make sure you remove all paint etc under the terminal heads, then once tight, spray terminal protector over them to help prevent rust starting at the cleaned areas.
Andy.