Mike,
I agree about the grounds, though not Lucas' fault I should think. (You
should look at VW's)
The early electronic ignition was very bad... how could I forget?
The alternators were a bit undersized by comparison to American Delco,
but
not by many other manufacturers of the period.
As to switches..... ask a Triumph owner about his Clearhooters switches!
(a competitor to Lucas who apparently underbid them by a lot)
But, if we didn't bitch about Lucas.... what would happen to all the
warm
beer jokes?
Peter
----
At 10:25 AM 5/10/2000 , Michael Dietsche wrote:
>The main problems with the Lucas system as presented on our cars are
really not
>with the components themselves (except maybe the switches, which do conk out a
>little sooner than they should, but that's not a biggie). The problems we see
>are usually related to:
>
>An under-rated alternator. It's not a bad alternator, but when it drops to 12
>amps output on idle we have a situation there, folks....The designers just
made
>a typical engineering-student error and didn't uprate the thing enough to cope
>with the real world (looks ok but marginal on paper, goes to hades in the
field
>with gradually deteriorating connections and components over time and use).
>Put in the classic Delco 60-amp bulletproof unit and you're set for years. No
>comment on you generator-powered drivers - don't know how good-bad they are in
>use.
>
>And bad grounds. For some reason the grounds corrode more easily than
American
>car ground connections. Bad grounds account for the crazy "mind-of-its-own"
>problems that crop up, that are so hard to troubleshoot.
>
>A higher-capacity alternator, and some attention to good clean grounds,
and the
>Lucas system is fine - nothing mysterious. The wiring is straightforward and
>easy to follow. One caveat - if you have the late-model Midget with electronic
>ignition, THAT really can be a bad component - replace with a reliable
ignition
>system. I've been told those were often brain-dead right off the ship.
>
>--- "Peter C." <nosimport@mailbag.com> wrote:
>> At 10:03 PM 5/9/2000 , Toby Atwater wrote:
>> >Another example of why I'm majoring in Engineering... this is good stuff!
>> >Although Lucas, I think, doesn't follow standard physic laws and electric
>> >theory.
>> >>Toby
>> >I gotta start a LUCAS 101 class at the university. Completely new
physics to
>> >learn heh.
>> -----
>> Toby (and others),
>> I believe the laws of physics still prevail in Lucas made products. I
>> think there is also evidence of the laws of economics. Remember, the lowest
>> bidder likely won the contract from the car maker. Perhaps that is where
>> the blame should lie?
>> Peter C (flame suit on)
>>
>> Sometimes the wet dreams of engineers are interrupted by the nightmares
>> imposed by the accountants.
>
>
>=====
>
>Michael B. Dietsche, P.E.
>
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