Alternator help !

[bat]

Hi guys, this might be simple for someone to help, and i'll try to explain as basic as i can as im a novice, here goes .........
I have a Lucas alternator on my spit which i now know is an upgrade to the original , maybe because my spit has a 1500 dolomite engine. Anyway my red ignition light is coming on hence the battery not charging. I have noticed on the front of the alternator in the white connection block on the front of the housing to the alternator that there is a white wire off !, in this connection block there are 3 brown wires, a thick brown one in the middle and 2 smaller brown wires either side, then there is this small short white wire that goes down to what i think is earth, because its fixed to a bolted metal plate. My question is where do i reconnect this white wire ?,
as looking at wiring diagrams all these brown wires are positives !
Can anyone help,
cheers guys
Bat

[bat]

Ive just added a picture to the white cable in question, the red ignition light is permenantly on, so where does this white cable connect into,

regards
BAT

[Deleted User]

The alternator earth is through the body, and as such there is no earth wire. Your white wire could be either something extraneous a PO has added.
Or it may be the wire for the IG warning light, which would explain why it is on.

From you picture it looks like no wires are connected?!

[bodders1]

Hi BAT

The Dolomite 1500 and SPit 1500 used the same Lucas ACR series alternators.  The standard wiring is just the 3 brown wires (one thin and two thick).  The white wire is something fitted at a later date.  Does it go into a small metal cylinder on the metal plate you describe?  If so, it is an RF supressor, fitted to stop the alternator making a crackle/howling noise throught he car's radio.

The red charge light being on will not be anything to do with this white wire. 
First thing to check is that the fan belt is not slipping.  If the fan belt is properly tensioned, then the most likely explanation is that your alternator has died.  Most local spare parts shops still carry the ACR alternators on thier shelves so you should be able to pick one up quite easily.  If you can, take the old alternator with you oterwise you will have to pay an exchange surcharge (usually between £20 and £30) which will be creditted back to you when you return the dead alternator - you can also do a side by side comparrison to make sure that the replacement using has all the mounting holes in the same places, etc..

hope this helps
bodders1

[bodders1]

[quote by=jimio link=Blah.pl?b=spit,m=1178264969,s=2 date=1178278088]Or it may be the wire for the IG warning light, which would explain why it is on.[/quote]

No, the wire for the ign light is the thin brown one.  If it was disconnected, 2 things happen:
1) the ign light doesn't show at all
2) the alternator stops working - permanently - as I discovered recentpy in heavy rain :-(

[bat]

Thankx Bodders that has been a great help, cheers.
Is it difficult to remove  and re fit ?

[bodders1]

[quote by=bat link=Blah.pl?b=spit,m=1178264969,s=5 date=1178279112]
Is it difficult to remove  and re fit ?[/quote]

No, pretty straightforward.  I can swap an alternator in about 5 minutes.
1) slacken (but do not remove) bolt at water-pump end of the alternator top bracket (this enables the bracket to pivot up and down)
2) remove nut and bolt at alternator end of top bracket.  It the alternator is original, the alternator body is threaded on this bolt hole so the nut simply acts as a lock nut.  On many recon units, this threaded hole has been damaged or drilled-out so the bolt drops out as soon as you release the nut
3) remove the fan belt from the alternator pulley
4) undo the nut on the lower alternator mounting bolt.  The bolt head should be below the alternator pulley and the nut should be beneath the back of the alternator, near the distributor pedastal.  You cannot withdraw the bolt fully without damaging the radiator, so don't try!
5) The alternator lower bracket has a large roll-pin in the rearward lug on the alternator that is a tight (but sliding) fit.  The bolt passes right throught he middle of this roll-pin and the nut bears down on the end of it.  This takes up the slack in the lower mounting when it is all bolted up tight.  In order to remove the alternator, you have to persuade this roll-pin to move as far backward as possible.  If the roll-pin is loose, and hefty shove on the alternator body in the direction of the radiator is sufficient.  If the pin is tight then find a piece of wood to use as a drift on the rearward lower lug and use a hammer on the end of the piece of wood to tap the alternator forward.  You should get about 6-8mm of movement.
6) once the roll-pin is fully pushed back, you can withdraw the bold most of the way to wards the radiator and the alternator can be lifted off the lower mounting.  Note that there is a spacer on the bolt that fits in to the lower mounting (this is why you had to move the alternator forwards to lift it off).

You will have to remove the pulley and fan from your old alternator and fit them to the replacement unit.  The replacement should be provided with a new nut, lock washer and woodruf key.  To remove the pulley I place the alternator fan-downwards in a vice with the vice gently grippinng the fan itself and then use a socket to undo the nut.  You may find the pulley and fan (especially the pulley) is a tight fit on the shaft, in which case a 3-legged puller will get it off easily.  If you don't have a 3-legged puller, the pulley can usually be prised off with a screwdriver between it and the fan.

refitting, as the say in the best manuals, is the reverse of removal - but you swear in different places :-)

hope this helps
bodders1