Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Well that was more difficult than it needed to be

94 plus 8, 3.9

Alternator failed last night on the way home from evening car meet. Lights on, driving steadily all going well. Ignition light came one, voltmeter dropped to 10v, lights go dim. Screeching from engine bay.

Got home just about, alternator output showing just 10.2v.

What an awkward job to get it off. A 15 minute job took an hour and a half. And I had to make some ‘ modifications’ on the way. Definitely toasted alternator is now with the reconditioners.

Bu99er!

An hour and a half to take off, 4 hour turnaround at the reconditioners round the corner (very handy old school in a farm yard), £35. Small but highly useful mod



20 minutes to reinstall and test

Shouldn’t need this many tools!



Job done and nice and tidy again now..

Lucky you got home without assistance. Not so lucky removing maybe but job now done and you must have benefitted from the experience. The 10.2 volts you measured was the battery BTW, the alternator would have likely been making no contribution

Imagine something worse with a Motorola alternator on a Teledyne Continental light aircraft engine. With three passengers onboard smoke started entering cockpit. Declared emergency and landed at nearest airport. Ground run up revealed no obvious issues but charge current intermittent. Shed as many electrical loads as possible and made it to intended destination in South of France. Also made it back to base at Bournemouth the following day where a near complete meltdown of alternator stator windings was discovered

Similar thing happened to me in my Grumman Traveller halfway between Jersey and Exeter, complete electrical failure. Fixed at Exeter.

And problems over water add an extra level of stress!

Did your passengers get back on board for the return? if so, there's a job for you in sales.

Yes indeed, on another trip from Jersey routing via Southampton having just come out from a 100 hr check a plug lead came adrift mid channel. Made it safely to land but needed change of underpants.

One did, also a pilot, the other two we dropped off on their boat.

How odd. From my Help Box and experience, fan belts fail far more often than alternators...not that Morgan Plus 8/LR alternators have ever been great. Owners do not change the belts regularly. I carry one with me at all times under the seat.) Rubber ages whether used or not. Serpentine belts last longer. Older fan belts like yours are good for 2-3 years depending on usage.

A failing belt (whether cracked [tiny little lines only seen on close examination] broken or merely loose (the latter being VERY common) announces itself with loud screeching. If any of these are bad enough, the voltage drops and the car often starts overheating as the same belt drives the water pump. 90% of the time, tightening or belt dressing spray will keep you going for another year. You CAN get another type of screeching if the bearing has failed..but that most often occurs gradually. The car will keep going as long as it still has enough voltage to create ignition sparks.

Most people take the fan belt symptoms as a failed alternator. Rather than tightening the belt or changing it, OR going to a motor factor to test the alternator in situ, they remove the alternator and send it off for repair or replace it. The former results in it,
1. They will not test before and merely rebuild it
2. They are smart, test first and then return it without or only a small charge
3. They are not honest and merely return it with charges after doing nothing.
I guesstimate universal results are evenly spread over all three.

The easy way to remove the alternator from your car is to remove the alternatorand the bracket that attaches it to the engine. 3 bolts..one accessible through the valence, through a specially made access hole (that you show) for that purpose.

l.

I believe the screeching was from the worn commutator. I think what had happened was that one so the brushes broke up and damaged the commutator. It was 26 years old and I have no evidence in the service file that it had ever been changed or repaired before.