Lancia Motor Club

Hi

Please could I have some advice.  I haven't owned my Fulvia for too long and its the first car I've had with a dynamo.  When you take your foot of the gas, the headlights go dim and the indicators slow down to almost a stop.  The battery is in good condition and fully charged so I was wondering is this was normal behaviour or if anyone had any ideas what I should investigate?

thanks
Rich

Could be a faulty voltage regulator? If not the dynamo itself.

Drive belt tension ?????  It could be as simple as that !!  I was caught by this not so long ago.

Good luck,

               Andy

My last s1 with dynamo was like that and so is the mk1 Mini I have now. I've always just lived with it and kept the throttle down a bit when signalling at junctions!

You could try a new flasher unit for the indicators. I think modern ones use solid-state circuitry rather than a bimetallic strip, so they keep flashing when the voltage drops. My Saab two-stroke, with dynamo, suffered the same problem as your Fulvia, and even when the engine was running at speed I'd have to move the indicator stalk about five seconds earlier than normal to make sure the indicators were actually indicating by the time I needed them. A new flasher unit cured all that and all now works perfectly.

Hope that helps.

John

Sounds as if your system is probably okay?  We are so used to alternators now-a-days that charge from just a few revs above idling speed, that we forget that a dynamo has to be driven at almost 1800 - 2000rpm engine speed before the circuits have closed and current is being produced.  Our S1 Fulvia indicators slow significantly as the engine drops down to idle speed, even more so if the brake lights are on! Imagine what it is like with headlights on;  and forget about wipers and heater - switch them off.  In the days of motoring with a dynamo, you switched headlights off when you sat at traffic lights, to stop the battery discharging.  I think if you have headlights on (particularly main beams), plus wipers and the heater motor, the Fulvia dynamo will not produce sufficient current and there could be a faint glow from the warning light on the dash. (Hence the S1 cars do not have heated rear screens).

Regards - Roddy

A little off topic but I noticed a company in a classic car magazine recently that does what they call a 'dynator'. It is essentially an alternator but 'disguised' as a dynamo. This allows owners of cars with dynamos have the benefit of an alternator whilst keeping the look of originality which a lot of owners want.

Contact Michael Hadley at Powerlite. they are based in Birmingham 01384261984

You'll no doubt need to take deep pockets with you if it's anything like the cost of the ones for triumph TR's!
Brian
8227 8)

Your first check should be to compare the poor headlamp and flasher performance that you describe when the engine revs drop with the performance with the engine not running and switched off.If the battery really is ok the flashers should work even with the headlights on.If they dont you have some connections that need cleaning.Look for something getting warm. If the headlight issue is not a major then maybe a modern flasher is all you need.
If everything works ok with this test the implication is that the cut-out in the regulator isnt doing its stuff and you are getting a big current loss back through the dynamo when the revs drop.Take it to an auto electrician who is old enough to know what a dynamo is!!
My bet is dirty connections however.Start with the main battery ones and the feeds from there back into the rest of the system.

One of these......only one listed for a Lancia?


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PowerLite-Dynalite-Lancia-Aurelia-Dynamo-Alternator-/290577134934?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43a7bf3556

Full list of what hes selling via ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=Powerlite+dynamo&_sacat=0&_odkw=Powerlite&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313


P

http://www.powerlite-units.co.uk/dynalite.htm


P

Thanks for all the advice.  Its definitely the same whether the engine is ticking over or switched off  - everything works but the indicators slow and the lights dim.  I tried powerlite - they dont do off the shelf for fulvias but they will consider one offs if I can afford  :)

I've been running my 2c with a dynamo since 1999 and my 1.3 Rallye Coupe for about 3 years before that with no problems whatsoever, and I've never felt the need to change to an alternator, I think every car I ran up until the 1970's? was fitted with a dynamo and the only problems I recall was changing a couple of set of brushes, dead easy as the lead terminal tags were held by screws, and a bearing on the front plate, as long as you kept everything cleaned and looked after such as using a hacksaw blade to clean the commutator and a drop or two of thin oil in the bearings dynamos were fine, the only downside was having to be selective about how many electrical items you had on at the same time, but that was second nature, and you switched things on & off as necessary.

Brian
8227 8)

as before weak indicators you should use an electronic relay instead of the tin can variety....