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"L" Light stays on


lobf

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2 hours ago, lobf said:

Do you know where I can find incandescent bulbs for that cluster? Or what they’re called?  

I got mine at Carquest, just handed the guy an old bulb.

Get the LED out of the L light position, it’s messin stuff up.

Um, why are your connections shaking off?

Edited by tech71

76 2002 Survivor

71 2002 Franzi

85 318i  Doris

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27 minutes ago, tech71 said:

Get the LED out of the L light position, it’s messin stuff up.

+1  That's one place you should not use an LED bulb--the alternator charge warning light.  It's screwing things up.

 

28 minutes ago, tech71 said:

Um, why are your connections shaking off?

The three prong plug/socket on the back side of your alternator should be held in place by a wire bail that's fastened to the alternator.  It's often lost/never installed on rebuilt alternators so you need to find one, if that's what keeps falling off.  

 

And...there needs to be a ground wire running from your alternator body to the engine block--in addition to the double battery ground strap.  The alternator is mounted in rubber (or urethane) bushings, and without that ground wire (looks like 10 ga wire from the factory) the alternator's ground path is pretty dodgy.  

 

mike

'69 Nevada sunroof-Wolfgang-bought new
'73 Sahara sunroof-Ludwig-since '78
'91 Brillantrot 318is sunroof-Georg Friederich 
Fiat Topolini (Benito & Luigi), Renault 4CVs (Anatole, Lucky Pierre, Brigette) & Kermit, the Bugeye Sprite

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Yup, it was the LED in the warning light. Oops. Switched that out and I'm good. 

 

As for why my connections shook off, I think there's a couple of reasons- I just replaced my old stock alternator with one that puts out higher amperage and is internally regulated. However, the lower bracket now attaches to the front of the alt, and not the back, which I think for some reason reduces the stability. Also I probably didn't tighten anything enough. 

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3 hours ago, lobf said:

Yup, it was the LED in the warning light.

My BMW motorcycle uses the same voltage regulator as my '76 2002

One of the cautionary notes in the cycle manual is to make sure the ALT bulb in the dash is always "fresh". It supplies the excitation voltage to the alternator through the  bulb filament. LEDs can't do this.

John

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