In a message dated 98-08-06 20:40:07 EDT, Huppertc@aol.com writes:
> The first is from the alternator. Both brown wires that plug into the
> alternator are draining power with engine off and key out of ignition.
Why?
> What could cause this?
Carl,
Two questions: how are you determining that there is a drain here, and what is
the magnitude of the drain. There will always be a small drain on one of the
brown wires to the alternator, due to the internal construction, but it is on
the order of milliamps. A defective regulator or diodes could cause a drain.
> Second source is on the circuit that goes through the rheostat. I will get
> behind the dash and unplug the purple wire to the rheostat to see if this
> stops the drain. Has anyone had this problem? Was it the rheostat itself
> or one of the panel lights?
If you have a purple wire on the rheostat, that is the problem. The rheostat
should receive power from the headlight switch via a red/green wire which goes
to a fuse, and from the fuse via a red wire to the rheostat. Any purple wire
is hot all the time, key on or off. If you have a purple wire to the rheostat,
it is always energized. If it is a red wire, rather than a purple wire, then
Jim Altman's advice is correct. Look for a short or a misconnection somewhere
along the red or the red/green wires. Could the red wire be connected to the
wrong fuse? The correct fuse will have a red/green wire on one side, and two
or more red wires on the other, and no other wires attached.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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