54 Hornet Amp Light

harry54

Driving home the other day my amp light started to come on and then stayed on ... The symptoms were as follows.

1. normal flickering at stops

2. starting to stay on thru normal acceclaration and then going out..

3. then on all the time

4. Fan belt is fine



My question to you all is

1. Is this symtomatic of worn brushes ?

2. is this symtomatic of other generator issue's ?

3. do I only need to replace the brushes ?

4. What is the reccomended procedure of doing this ?





Thanks....

Park_W

The symptoms indicate it could be just brushes. Could also be the regulator, but not as likely. If you're hesitant at all to dive into it yourself, take the generator to a starter-generator shop. They can do a quick checkout, typically at no or minimal cost.

Geoff

harry54 wrote:

Driving home the other day my amp light started to come on and then stayed on ... The symptoms were as follows.

1. normal flickering at stops

2. starting to stay on thru normal acceclaration and then going out..

3. then on all the time

4. Fan belt is fine



My question to you all is

1. Is this symtomatic of worn brushes ?

2. is this symtomatic of other generator issue's ?

3. do I only need to replace the brushes ?

4. What is the reccomended procedure of doing this ?





Thanks....

1. Probably

2. Possibly.

3. Most likely

4. You need a hook to hold the torsion spring up, to remove the brush. Undo the screw holding the pigtail on to the brush holder, and replace the brush. There are four brushes, two with insulated pig-tails connected to the field coils, and two with exposed wires, connected to ground. However, it pays to inspect the commutator for damage. If it looks okay, then you will probably get away with just replacing the brushes, but if it looks scored or burnt, it may need turning and undercutting, and this is best left to your electrical service technician, as recommended.

Geoff.

harry54

Thanks to all.... I'll let you know Monday what I find... Hope to get to it Saturday....

harry54

I replaced the brushes today and they looked to have about a 1/3 life left.

1. Does that mean that they were shot ?

I still have the same problem , amp light is still lit.

2. I stuck a volt meter on the terminals coming of the generator and it gave me a reading of .45 volts. That seem reasonable to me but I'm not sure what it should be. The generator should put out a trickle charge correct ? .45v seems logical.

3. The I ran a check on the bat with the engine running.. it read 6.04 v

4. Does this mean that my voltage reg is bad... it's only 1yr old ?

5. I tried grounding the field terminal on the voltage reg to ground and nothing happened ....





What are your thoughts....

Congused.....thx

Geoff

Your generator needs the loving tender touch of an auto-electrician. If you grounded the field terminal and it doesn't charge, then the generator is faulty. It could be open cricuited field coils, crook armature, broken terminals, etc. etc. It's time to take it to an expert, sorry.

Geoff.

harry54

Geoff , I think you aare right.....thx

harry54

Solved the problem... Turned out to be a bad voltage reg. By shorting the field wire to the block amp light went out.

Geoff

Harry, you must get the regulator checked, that it is in fact regulating at 7.25 volts at normal temperature. Otherwise you are going to burn out your generator.

Geoff.