The 'E' Type Forum

What a mouthful of a title. I would be a bad newspaper editor.

Just thought I would update the charging situation for 6 cylinder and possibly 12 cylinder e types as some of you may be relying on 50 year old Lucas alternators and 4ACR control units.

Years ago the 4ACR on my 4.2 failed, so I bought another4 ACR which failed. So I bought a £250 self regulating 70a unit from a well respected source.

This was fitted correctly with a heat shield, a correctly tensioned belt and also failed a year later after 10,000 miles. The rear bearings had become very noisy.

Last week I removed the offending self regulating alternator, disassembled it and found the rear bearing was not greased and had seized. I greased the bearing and all was fine, well better anyway. Once I got it apart it all brought back memories of changing alternators on old bangers in my youth mainly on Fords.

A picture search of the offending noisy alternator produced many alternatives, So I thought I would take the plunge. Look what arrived for £50 all in from Hella (Timefit remanufactured) (below).

Spot the difference, the dimensions are identical. The one on the top £50, one at the bottom £250. It was the one at the bottom that packed up.

The wiring on self regulating alternators requires you to bypass the regulator. This is two minutes work for the novice with insulation tape and a spade connector. No wires need to be cut, it is simpler.





#





PM me if you want the full details !

Hi James.....good solution....any chance you can just post the details....that way you only have to do it once and its here for good.....All the best...Steve

I must admit that that seems to be a very good find, well worth the money.

However, if it was me in the first place, my first solution would be to replace the offending bearing, even if a plain, ball or roller bearing. I have found in the past that Simplybearings.co.uk have just about any bearing you can possibly need in varying quality prices. I am only a customer.

..... if you need smaller (miniature) bearings: SMBbearings is good. Customer only again.

Yes no problem.

I have a couple of e type projects so I need more than one alternator. The cost soon mounts up.

It is a Hella 8EL 012 085 241

098616

To fit it requires the center black block wire in the ACR plug to be pushed out, disconnected and insulated safely.

I also requires the two large spade plugs on the back of the alternator to be safely tucked away like this.

It bolts straight onto the e type brackets, you do need to check the pulley alignment with a straight edge as normal as they seem to vary. This is a case of using a straight edge on the drive pulley out to the alternator and making the adjustment with washers. It is pretty basic stuff, but worth checking.

James

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-ESCORT- ... SwxuRdXX-F

Hi James
How have you wired the ignition warning light? The original Lucas alternators have an AL terminal that supplies circa 8 volts to the 3AW unit to energise it and cut the supply to the warning light. I've tested a 3AW unit on the bench and find that with 12v applied, it gets quite warm after a while and I'd come to the conclusion that Lucas possibly had this in mind when they designed their alternator system with a lower voltage output to power the 3AW unit?
I'm sure someone out there will educate me!
Andy

I left the rest of the wiring as is and the warning ignition warning light functions as normal.

The only difference between the new and old alternator id one has a spade terminal, the other a loop style terminal.

James

James,
Nice alternative, but I don’t think this alternator will fit the Series 1 bracket.
Probably needs the wider Series 2 bracket with the smaller diameter and longer mounting bolt, plus the Series 2 adjuster bracket and link.
I can’t see your vehicle details, but from your twin fans and ribbed cam covers,assume it’s a Series 2 ?
Regards,
Dave

Hello Dave, I have 2 Series 1's and 1 Series 2!


I used the S2 BRACKET C30615 on the S2 from SNG. I suppose you could use this bracket on an S1.



James