nigelt

I understand that electrics is not everyone's cup of tea, so I won't even mention the Quantum phenomena that causes LEDs to work

 

With the limiting resistor built in though there should be either a 12 volt drop or nothing. If there is a 1.2 volt drop across the combination, this would equate to only 1.2 mA through the two items which "might" just barely light the LED with the modern more efficient LEDs, this is a possibility. The resistor means you can whack the full battery voltage across them to make it work.

 

An interesting subject is Physics ...

 

Simon.

Very true... you would probably only see that in a darkened room

Hi Simon,

I realise that it is current that will destroy the LED and I could have mentioned the Resistor to limit the current(in my original post), but what I was trying to highlight was that as an LED only needs 1.2v across it to forward bias it, if the output from the Alternator is low the LED could still be forward biased. But as you point out the LED is likely to have a limiting resistor built in, so just need to check there is not a 1.2v drop across the LED/Resistor combined. :-)

Did you say that you used the bulb as well as the LED at the same time? and the bulb went out but the LED did not? Or did you try the bulb on its own and that worked, then tried the LED and that did not?. If it was the first then check the voltage across the bulb or LED as I mention earlier. If it was the latter then the 1K resistor is probably too high. Try putting two more 1k resistor across the 1st one (i.e. in parallel), makes it about 333 ohms.

Nige

LED's only need about 1.2v across them (depending on the type) to illuminate. It might be worth measuring the voltage across the LED, you may find that the voltage generated out of the excitation part of the Alternator is not as high as the voltage supplying the LED. So it won't go out.

Nige

OK, so in that case you need a resistor in series with the LED to make it look like a bulb and then a resistor in parallel in case the LED fails

Not quite Alan, If you put an LED straight across a battery then it will go pop! So the resistor in series with the LED is to limit how much current it can draw and LED's don't need very much to light up. However, the LED and Resistor are now in series with the coil of the alternator and this limits the current in the coil to that of the current passing through the LED. Which is now not enough to energise the Alternator. So the Resistor in parallel With the LED and its serial resistor are to give more current to the coil. Or in other words all three components make the LED look like a bulb... Hmmm perhaps I should have started with statement. :-)

I would go with what Longboarder(Nigel) is saying. Only able to come on with dip and main beam. Forget the auto off as he says it does not seem to be being enforced.

Nige

Hi Ferrino,

I would suggest having them work for both the dip and main beams... Imagine the scenario where you are following a plonker who has left his fog lights on in good weather. When he puts on his main beams, his fog lights go off, when he returns to dip beam they come back on again! The person who is following may think that this is the brake lights coming on and so hits the anchors and is immediately rear ended by the guy behind him.

The only time that the fog lights should go off is when you have turned them off or you have turned all your lights off (well.. except for the side lights that is..) This is why I suspect they are now asking for fog lights to not come back on again once the headlights have been turned off, to stop people leaving them switched on and then going out again the next day/night in good weather. (The illuminated switch is not enough of an indication to these people!)

Nige

You might find fitting one of these helps. I have some thing similar on my 2b. I used this as my original carb only had an in and no return. Fuel would come from the pump into the bottom and out the bottom of the reservoir to the carb. The return would come out of the top. Now that I have a weber, I have the pump going directly to the carb, then the return from the carb goes into the bottom of this reservoir and the return to tank comes out of the top. It maybe a height thing between the in and out that breaks the cycle.

I'm sure some one can find a bottom joke in there somewhere

Nige

Hi Andy,

Could it be that the return line is causing a syphoning process. Once the engine/pump stops the return continues to drain he carb. Maybe a shut off valve in the return line might stop that, (off the top of my head).

Nige

Hi Tom,

Just re-read your post.

If you think it is the lifters then it maybe too late. The Corsa can just about get the oil pressure up at idle and not long after that it can't even manage that, which causes wear in the hydraulic lifters. you may find the lifters are already damaged. To be honest, you could spend a lot of money on this trying to fix it. More than the car is worth.

Hi Tom,

That will be the timing chain rattling. It was a problem with those cars, they didn't tension enough. It will go for years like this.

However, my daughters car got quite noisey so I replaced the timing chain. Its a git of a job, the whole of the left side of the engine has to come off as this is the water pump and oil pump and timing chain cover.

Where it went wrong for me, was I replaced the crankshaft oil seal as part of the job, but it was claerly a faulty part, as it poped out the next day dumping all the oil out, wrecking the oil pump, then the hydrolic lifters and finally smashing/cracking a piston. Car was then scrapped.

Moral of the story here is leave it alone and get shot of it quick..

I was very lucky at the time of dismantling my donor, as the council were doing an amnisty thing, where they would come and take away the car/chassis for free. This was back when people where just dumping cars by the roadside rather than scrap them.

However, for the next ten years I kept receiving the reminders to tax it and so I just SORNed it each time.

When it came to register the kit, (and some of you will know this), I wrote on the back of the V5 that I had scrapped it myself and the V5 and a load of other paperwork goes off to the DVLA.

I think all they are looking for is that the engine number for the kit matches the engine number on the V5 for the donor. Reason I say this is because you don't get the reg no: of the donor you get a new one ( i.e the Donor was H125--- and what I got was H222---).

Of course it will also depend on who you get at the DVLA as they were querying my build with regard to Q/age plate.

Nige

Hi Ian,

I have a cvh 1800 in my 2b, however the engine must be moved back an inch on the mounts and I had to ditch the mechanical fuel pump.

Also you will not be able to fit the brake servo, because the inlet manifold will be in the way. I have a cross bar that drives the servo on the passenger side. Other than that the engine and altenator etc are all standard.

Nige

Before you start, you might want to count up the number of pop studs you have been given, against how many holes are in the hood. The hood has 24 holes and you have probably been given 20 pop studs!

Nige

What I found with my front brakes was that there was too much travel in the peddle and spongyness and put this down to the front pistons retracting back into the callipers. I tweaked this by unscrewing the pushrod on the servo, that drives the MC, so preloading the breaking system. Don't do it too much though as you might then find the breaks lock up when they get hot.

Nige

Go-waterless and two microfiber clothes one to wipe on/clean and the other to polish it. Absolutely fantastic stuff. Wash and polish a car minutes..

www.go-waterless.co.uk

Nige

Could it be that when you are breaking hard the engine revs are dropping to much and so not enough rotational speed to drive oil around the system? I have had this with mine (allbeit not a pinto),when I had an air leak and engine nearly stalling. Then just need a blip to turn the light out again.

Nige

Aha! They both sound like a plan. I will give that a try and maybe do it out in the sun, so it can get a bit more flexible.

Cheers

Hi All,

Is there any way to tell the difference between the 2B and superspec wet weather gear? The reason I ask is, I have just come to try and fit the gear and find that if I fit it to the windscreen, I can't get it to reach the back, to pop it on and visa versa. I know my windscreen is in the right place, as any closer and the de-mist would be on the outside!

I have checked out some links on here to make sure I have fitted the frame correctly and that seems to be ok. If I start cutting the frame about, my concern would be that it won't go over the roll bar.

Will try and add some photos, but any help at this point would be great.

Nige

You say you have put a bulb across the live feed and ground and that it fails to light up. It could be that there is a resistor in this live feed that limits the amount of power to the coil pack and to the amplifier. Effectivly avoiding a short circuit when the transistors turn on in the amplifier. If this is the case, the 12v will be dropped across the resistor and there won't be any volts left to light the bulb.

I am not familiar with the pinto setup, so the above is only a suggestion.

You could try connecting the 5w bulb to the positive side of the battery and the other side to the output of the amplifier. as you rotate the dizzy the bulb should go on and off. If not, the amplifier could be dead, or there is no supply to it, or its not getting a proper input from the dizzy.

Nige

Having bought my kit a long time ago, do GBS not supply the carpeting anymore with the kit? My carpet could be heated with an iron (the backing that is!) and then molded into shape. So it fits nicely over the rounded edges of the tunnel and stays that way.

Thanks guys for all the input, that's given me some food for thought.

Probably is the big ends, been a long time since I have had to sort them out on an engine.

Cheers

Nige

What oil are you using, a slightly heavier oil may give a bit more pressure,

Is there no knocks or rattles, and where is it leaking from?

 

jon

The oil should be 5w30, but I have tried 10w40 with no improvement. I suspect that the oil is being burnt as I can see no leaks anywhere, but no blue smoke that I can see

Have you done a full engine flush and replaced the oil?

 

That’s were I’d start Nigel.

certainly have

From the "Not at all helpful dept" in olden days we solved this problem with a neatly cut square of insulation tape -- stuck over the tell-tale lamp.

 

And slightly more useful --- what is the pressure when driving -- is that O.K

Yes as soon as engine revs creep up to 1000 rpm oil light goes off and pressure is at about 45 psi at 2500 rpm and above. Can't remember what the pressure is at 1000rpm but more that 15psi