Garage recommendation
- Thread starter Rowcon123
- Start date
Chuffer
CCCUK Member
What sort of problems ? Most are down to bad earth points which is always an issue on glass fibre cars .Hi everyone,
Been having nightmares with the wiring in my 1979 c3, and need a garage to help me fix it.
Does anyone know a good place up north preferably around Shropshire.
Thanks everyone much appreciated
Rowcon123
CCCUK Member
Mostly just the system not charging the battery, it seems to keep wanting to eat alternator's, already had it into a garage to check for me.
They have said they have checked the earth's but are stumped.
I woul check myself but I'm out on deployment untill late September and would love to just drive it when I'm back
They have said they have checked the earth's but are stumped.
I woul check myself but I'm out on deployment untill late September and would love to just drive it when I'm back
Corvetteville
CCCUK Member
Telford Auto Electrics Ltd
Telford Auto Electrics Ltd "Nobody knows more about your car"
www.telfordautoelectrics.co.uk
Or try Gavin Roe EMC Performance. He's Derbyshire but knows C3s backwards. Email sent.
I have already emailed all our region members.
Alternators are usually pretty basic in operation, so I can not understand why it’s eating them, is it charging when a new one is put on, if so what happens after, is it that the alternator just gives up?.
I had one once that blew inside because it was not fitted correctly, when they tightened the bolts up it put a strain on the casings which led to it touching slightly inside and eventually got hot and blew it.
Mike
Central South Region Rep
Rowcon123
CCCUK Member
It's a bit of an odd story, I bought the car not long ago and they said it had a new battery because when they got It, the battery was dead. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but a few days later I noticed the car started to overheat.
For the life of me I couldn't work out what was wrong with it as it was intermittent and would come back on.
Over time this got worse and worse untill the gen light came on and noticed the battery was dead again, I check the alternator and was outputting 9v, so whipped that out and fitted a new one.
This fixed the cooling issue as it has electric fans so I was all happy untill a about a week later I started having the same problem, so I thought I would send it to a garage to have a look as I'm not very good with electrics (boggles my mind wiring) and they couldn't figure out the problem.
And that's where I'm at haha, but will have an auto electrician look at it and find out the problem
For the life of me I couldn't work out what was wrong with it as it was intermittent and would come back on.
Over time this got worse and worse untill the gen light came on and noticed the battery was dead again, I check the alternator and was outputting 9v, so whipped that out and fitted a new one.
This fixed the cooling issue as it has electric fans so I was all happy untill a about a week later I started having the same problem, so I thought I would send it to a garage to have a look as I'm not very good with electrics (boggles my mind wiring) and they couldn't figure out the problem.
And that's where I'm at haha, but will have an auto electrician look at it and find out the problem
They should have checked the voltage from the new one at the battery terminals to see what the alternator was putting out.
You can get a faulty alternator though, I have had it with a new one it lasted one week, I put another one on and all was good.
Other question is was it the correct alternator, was it new or reconditioned.
You can get a faulty alternator though, I have had it with a new one it lasted one week, I put another one on and all was good.
Other question is was it the correct alternator, was it new or reconditioned.
Do you know if its putting charge out from the terminals at the alternator end, if not then the alternator is dead, if it is then there is a problem with the wiring.
It all depends on what kind of alternator is on it and I can not remember what kind it is, it’s a long time since I have owned a C3.
Some alternators regulate themselves others had a separate box to regulate the voltage.
It all depends on what kind of alternator is on it and I can not remember what kind it is, it’s a long time since I have owned a C3.
Some alternators regulate themselves others had a separate box to regulate the voltage.
Chuffer
CCCUK Member
I can`t get me head round your overheating problem being connected to your electrical / alternator issues . OK so you have an electric fan but surely you have a viscous coupled cooling fan too ? The electric fan should be thermostatically controlled and only come on when engine temperature rises when the viscous fan cannot cope such as in slow moving or stationary traffic .
Roscobbc
Moderator
We're at the risk of discussing apples and oranges here. For an engine fan (or fans) to be efficient they need to be sited on the engine side of the radiator. A suplimentary fan can be used in addition in front of the radiator but its efficienty will be limited.....it needs a shroud/plenem to capture the incoming air and direct it through the radiator......that 'structure' in itself will get in the of the incoming cooling air and the suplimentary fan will loose efficency........I hear someone say "step-up the power, use a bigger fan in front of the rad"......it don't work the fan blade will stall as it tries to force air through the radiator core......minimising the fans effect.
Most people who use twin electric fans mounted to the rear of the rad throw the viscous fan away as there is no room for it now. Remember that the twin electric fans only draw cooling air through an area equal to the diameter of the two fans and not the whole radiator surface..........
Most people who use twin electric fans mounted to the rear of the rad throw the viscous fan away as there is no room for it now. Remember that the twin electric fans only draw cooling air through an area equal to the diameter of the two fans and not the whole radiator surface..........
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
Just to throw some thoughts out
1. 1979 C3 had a generator which has an internal regulator
2. Not an Alternator
3. 1979 did not have electric coolant fans. So if someone converted to electric, possible then needing a different serpentine belt length ?
And one used it is not 100% length causing problems to pulley on generator, slower, faster, load on shaft bearing
4. At idle is pulley turning true & smoothly, belt not too loose or tight
5. as GM engineering specs ( I attached at the bottom of this the full 140-page PDF) regulator at 85 F deg temp puts out 13.8 to 14.8 volts
Are you reading that at the output of the regulator ?
6. Is it possible the regulator is faulty, like bad diode(s) ?
7. Possible past owner installed the wrong Generator model ?
8. Is battery installed meet the GM specs below ?
1. 1979 C3 had a generator which has an internal regulator
2. Not an Alternator
3. 1979 did not have electric coolant fans. So if someone converted to electric, possible then needing a different serpentine belt length ?
And one used it is not 100% length causing problems to pulley on generator, slower, faster, load on shaft bearing
4. At idle is pulley turning true & smoothly, belt not too loose or tight
5. as GM engineering specs ( I attached at the bottom of this the full 140-page PDF) regulator at 85 F deg temp puts out 13.8 to 14.8 volts
Are you reading that at the output of the regulator ?
6. Is it possible the regulator is faulty, like bad diode(s) ?
7. Possible past owner installed the wrong Generator model ?
8. Is battery installed meet the GM specs below ?
Rowcon123
CCCUK Member
Wow that's interesting to know, I know the car has had a lot of work done including the addition of electric cooling fans, is there any easy way to tell if it has been converted to uusea alternator and not a generator ?
Also I have used a smaller belt due to the old belt being slightly too big, I wouldn't have thought this would have an effect as long as it's tension correctly right ?
As for tension I may have messed that one up, I just tightened the belt until it felt about right (tight but still had a little flex in it)
As for the alternator I bought it's internally regulated, I'm guessing that's the same as an internally regulated generator, not sure the difference but will have a quick read up on it.
Also I have used a smaller belt due to the old belt being slightly too big, I wouldn't have thought this would have an effect as long as it's tension correctly right ?
As for tension I may have messed that one up, I just tightened the belt until it felt about right (tight but still had a little flex in it)
As for the alternator I bought it's internally regulated, I'm guessing that's the same as an internally regulated generator, not sure the difference but will have a quick read up on it.