Charging light on and gets brighter???

[John O]

My alternator/charging light is mysteriously on now after having let the car sit all Winter - it was fine last Fall. Also, it gets brighter with geater engine speed. I've already swapped volt regulators for a known good unit but the symptoms persist. Any ideas?

John O.

[capnjoe]

Hi John, Unfortunately I am traveling and don't have access to my prints to confirm. I would first slap a voltmeter on your battery (car off)
read the voltage and then start the car. It should be around 12 before you start, and 13 plus afterwards, but at least different. Otherwise suspect the alternator. Let me know how that goes if you like- I'll be home on Friday.

Some cars will turn the charging light on when the alternator field wire disconnects as well- that is what I'd check if I had the prints. J

[Geoff T]

Welcome to the world of Italian electrics! The gen light problem seems to afflict almost all older Fiats / Lancias at some time or other. You may also notice that the light gets brighter when you turn your headlights on or even pulses when you use the indicators! Since the car has been sitting through winter I would say you have developed a bad earth somewhere. Unfortunately exactly where is the problem. These cars were wired up using earth terminal blocks which gather a bunch of earth wires up and connect them to a single point with a multiple terminal block. This block is then attached to the bodywork with a single bolt! If you can find these blocks, undo them and clean the contact surface and refit, you may find the problem goes away, until corrosion sets in again. If the light glow brighter when the headlights are on, its a good bet that the earth block for the headlights has a bad earth, and is travelling back through the charge circuit to the gen light. Sounds strange but I have found this problem before. A bad earth circuit seems to be the major downfall of Italian electrics and the cause of most problems.

Geoff T.
1982 Series 2 Monte. ;)