Hi and Help Forums

toskana

Hi there guys, reasonably new to the m/home scene and enjoying greatly having bought a LHD Weinsberg Toskana, yes I know, nobody else has heard of it either. I have a slight(hopefully) problem, my ignition warning light has come on dimmly, getting brighter when indicators etc are switched on. At present i cannot even see the alternator, where is it on a Fiat Ducatto (1996) but dont think the belt has gone. A friend suggested an earth problem and someone else a brush problem in the alternator, any suggestions please

Jeffus

Hi Toskana, first a big welcome to the forums. hello1

I think your friend is on the right tracks. First check the everything is earthed OK. Remove the bolts that secure the earthing straps and give them a good brush/file making sure you have bright metal making contacts. Bolt back and coat the contact with some thing to protect them from getting dirty again, (electrical WD40) in the old days we used Vasaline. Check to make sure all is OK with the fuse box and fuses (earthing OK again and clean). If still no go . . . check the alternator brushes. You don't say if the motor is running when the warning light is on dimly, presume it is otherwise it would be on brightly. Does it go off when you start the engine then coming on dimly? If it is the alternator replacement brushes are the answer unless of course the alternator has had it's day, in which case a replacement (swop) is required. I know we have some qualified sparkies on the forums and I'm sure they will be along shortly to elaborate. HTH. Again big welcome. Jeffus. Cool

EDIT: another test to see if the alternator is working is (at night) start up and from tick over rev the engine with your headlights on you should see the headlights brighten and dim as you rev.

twooks

Hi Toskana, welcome to the site and good luck with your problem

Cool

MandyandDave

Hi There,... Had this before with a previous 'van, turned out to be the rectifier on the alternator, in most cases it's a little bolt on part to the alternator, depending on make Bosch Delco Remy etc. Have a word with your local auto electrician rather than a garage who would probably change the whole alternator.
As previous post suggests h/lamp check for brightness as engine revs increase, will check the alternator is charging, if so diode pack (rectifier) is faulty...much cheaper repair than alternator replacement.
Regards Dave

Anonymous

I fitted a split charge relay on my camper, since then the iginition light stays on dimly. I queried this on Self Buld Motorcaravan forum [url]http://www.sbmcc.co.uk/[/url]. Not really sure about the technical part but I think it was something to do with the power to the bulb need to be equal from each side to put the bulb out. If you have something like a bad earth some power will leak through & the bulb will light dimly. I tested my output with a meter to the main & auxilary batteries & gave up trying to get the bulb to go out after checking all the connections. Confused

Raine

Raine saying hi, and i hope you like the sight, (yer gotta get hammers)sorry spanners, Cool

hope you have a lot of fun, Cool

PJKRacing

Check what you can, bad earth connection, even the alternator mounting bolts could be lose.

If you can not solve it, as indicated above take it to an auto electrician, they should be able to rectify it for you (no pun intended).

Regards

Pete

Anonymous

Hi & welcome to the site.

Probably nothing to do with it but when I picked up my van the ignition light wouldn't go out. Took it straight back to the dealers & 3 hours later it was fixed. They found that previous owners had re-routed the wiring from the fridge so the ignition light was staying on to tell me that the fridge was on 12 volt! They didn't pick it up on the PDI because they tested it separately.