Escort Dynamo > Alternator Conversion

[kdotlowe]

Hey all,

So recently my dynamo on my Xflow shat itself. I purchased a Lucus alternator from a Mk2 Escort and am a little confused on how the wiring works - seems different to guides I've read online.

Heres the dynamo and existing wiring:

and the alternator:

Now the dynamo has one large and one small spade fitting. The dynamo has two large and one small - does it matter which spade the large goes on?

Also, it's going through a little black box which I believe is the voltage regulator, do I still need to use or will the alternator have an inbuilt regulator?

Sorry, many questions.

Thanks guys!

[Beaver]

i just did this on my mk2 cortina (exactly the same)

here goes:

the 2 wires from the dynamo - thick one goes to a big spade terminal on the alternator (either one), small one goes to the small terminal.

then unplug the 5/6 wires from the voltage regulator (that black box, dont need it anymore) and connect the two thick ones together, then connect the two thin coloured ones together, and then earth the one/two remainning black ones.

done

hope that helps.

can get pics if you're still stuck

[kdotlowe]

Thanks bro, sounds easy enough. Have just attached an image of the regulator, could you please clarify which wires get joined etc.

[Beaver]

pretty sure thats starter solenoid....

this is the volateg reg

are you sure you are following the correct wires? i think some have the volatge reg mounted under the dash somewhere, and some in the engine bay, mounted to the passenger wheel well

[kdotlowe]

ahaha epic fail. Shows how much I know about wiring - just assumed the wires were coming from there.

I'm assuming it's this sucker - I have 2 large connectors and 1 small connector going into it I believe.

[Beaver]

yeh bro thats the one. the big plastic thing with the wires going into it slides off the black box (just pull it.might be easier to unscrew the voltage reg(black box) from the firewall first). using a little screw driver you can pop each wire out of the plastic thing and then hook them up as i desribed earlier. take a pic of it and ill tell you which ones.

its real straight foward, I was a tab dubious aty first but yeh its literally 5 mins work.

[kdotlowe]

The man! I'll have a look tomorrow and get back to ya. Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

[kdotlowe]

Aight, here's a pic of the wires. Thanks dude.

[Beaver]

right, so the two big red ones, join together.

the blue and brown ones, join them together.

then earth the black one (i just screwed mine to the firewall).

thats it. start it up and check the charging light goes off ( mine needs a quick rev then its good to go).

on the other side of the plastic bit that the wires are in, is a little slot below the main slot for each wire (hope that makes sense)

stick a really small flat head screwdriver in the little slot and twist it, then the wire should pull out the back. or just cut each wire and crimp new connectors on.

that make sense? haha

[kdotlowe]

Makes perfect sense! Thanks so much bro! Owe you big time

[kdotlowe]

ok done! Thing is it ain't charging . Light stays on and there is no change in voltage across the battery.

How do I determine whether it is my wiring or the alternator that's not working?

[Beaver]

have you got good connections where you joined the wires? make sure you solder or use spade connectors. also check the earth is good.

get a multi meter and check if there is any current/voltage coming out of the alternator when its running

[kdotlowe]

Alternator reads 12.2v. Now looking at the images above - you told me to join the brown & blue and earth the black. But from looking at the regulator it seems that the brown was the earth wire - it was at the top and the top connector on the back of the regulator seems to be an earth. Does this sound correct?

[Hemi]

Alternator reads 12.2v. Now looking at the images above - you told me to join the brown & blue and earth the black. But from looking at the regulator it seems that the brown was the earth wire - it was at the top and the top connector on the back of the regulator seems to be an earth. Does this sound correct?

brown is a common earth colour

[Beaver]

try swapping the brown and black around. all i know is that mine works with the black earthed.

come to think of it, i had two black wires that i earthed. meh, its working so Im not phased haha

but yeh try swapping them around.

this is the article i followed

it says to earth the black. (number 13 in the article)

[kdotlowe]

Hmm yeah that's true. Will I cause any damage if I try switch them anyway? Because my brown wire was definately in the top connector on the regulator and that seems to be an earth.

[Beaver]

you may be right, this was mine before i dismantled it, and id assume the voltage reg is the same. so switch the brown and black around and it should work

[kdotlowe]

Switched the wires around and it works! Thanks alot Hunted!