Engine died in rain, battery flat, dynamo issue?

[dhenry]

I know the first thing i need to do is get the voltmeter on it and see what it is reading. In the meantime here is my issue,

Engine died at traffic lights yesterday in the pouring rain. Been going for about 20 minutes. I am running the original dynamo which appears to be charging, at least the red light on the speedo goes out when the engine is running. (will check with voltmeter to see exactly how much i'm getting from the dynamo). When I tried to restart it it wouldn't turn over. Battery flat (the battery was brand new 2 weeks ago).

I was running the headlamps, wipers and heater fan all at the same time and driving in the pouring rain with no grill (lost the screws when changing the dizzy). This morning i used some jumper cabels and it started right up and ran fine.

Is this a reliability issue regarding dynamo's? Is this what is expected of a dynamo and should I upgrade to an alternator? What is the general consensus on dynamo's vs alternators. If I am driving the car everyday should I likely replace mine?

It would appear as though I was not getting any charge yesterday as the battery was flat, however, the red light never came on. Could it be that the dynamo is old and it can't keep up with me running all the electrics at the same time?

Cheers for the help guys. This being my first mini I am still learning a lot and appreciate all the advice even if it is quite basic. Regardless of a few small issues I am loving my mk1 ownership.

Daniel

[ceejam]

A Dynamo will struggle to cope with headlights, wipers & heater all on at the same time.

A bigger battery is the easy option - to make sure you have more in reserve (you can trickle charge at home to keep it topped up), an alternator is a more permanent solution, but not as original.

Some of the others will have other ideas

[formulaphoto]

New brushes in the dynamo probably wouldn't hurt. I had the same issue when I first drove my car home after buying it. Took the dynamo off on the side of the road, took it home and installed some makeshift/modified VW beetle brushes (all I had), and it ran great after that!

I'll be converting to an alternator though, as I want to run Aux lights and dash lights, tripmeter, etc.

W

[mk1]

In my experience a dynamo is every bit as reliable as an alternator as long as you don't expect it to make massive amounts of charge. Running everything that you describe "Shouldn't" kill the dynamo that quick, so I suspect that there may be some sort of underlying charging issue, best to make sure that everything is working as it should be before going down the alternator route.

Another thing that won't have helped yesterday was water in the distributor, this is the most common killer of Mini engines. You must ensure that your dizzy & electrics are well protected from the rain as if they aren't your car will stop!

[dhenry]

Hello,

Thanks for the help. I agree that running all of these things "shouldn't" be too much for a dynamo and I also know not to expect too much from one. This dynamo is pretty old and is probably just rather tired. A clean out with knew brushes will probably do it a world of good. I have no plans to run anything extra on this car, no radio or spots ect so I should think I would stick with the dynamo, albeit a rebuilt one.

I will get the grill back on pronto, once I pick up some screws. So is it simple enough to rebuild a dynamo? Are brushes available? Has any one made anything to go behind the grill and shield the distributor and dynamo from rain with out causing air flow/cooling issues?

Cheers for the help guys. Understanding the car a little more everyday.

Daniel

[coop12g295]

Have a look on ebay type in dynamo repair kit I did one 3 months ago for a mate
as I used to do them when I was an apprentice mech

[dhenry]

Is this the right one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Overhaul-kit-Luca ... 255e750738

[coop12g295]

Yes that one will do I soaked the bronze bush in 3in1 oil for a week before fitting to quote Alexander Orlov "simples"