Caterham "warning" light

[Kitcat]

As Caterham owners know, we have 3 info lights between the speedo and tach:

 

A top one that is green (turn signals), a red middle one (ignition) and bottom (blue) brights. All are fairly useless as they wash out in ordinary daylight.

 

However, my red light has started coming on upon hard acceleration. And it's brighter than the others and is hard to ignore. Is the light trying telling me something, or do I just have a short in the wiring? It flickers a bit, then stays on, starting around 4K rpm's. Since I do a lot of accelerating, the light is on a lot and is sort of annoying.

 

Thx,

Mike

[MoPho]

Check your alternator.

[MHKflyer52]

Check your ground cables also to the engine and trans as your description of when and how the light comes on suggest that the torque of the engine might be pulling a wire or cable.

Hope this helps.

[Sean]

From page five of the Caterham owner's handbook:

Battery charging – RED

The light illuminates as a bulb check when the ignition

switch is turned to position ‘II’ and extinguishes as

soon as the engine is running. If it remains on, or

illuminates whilst driving, a fault with the battery

charging system is indicated. Seek qualified

assistance.

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

Sounds like it could just be the belt is loose.

 

Check your voltage at the battery when the car is on. It should be around 14 V

[Kitcat]

Thx for the input. I will start w/the loose alternator belt theory and work from there.

 

It is a 6 mo old battery and I keep it on the trickle charger so it usually starts right up.

[nleroux7]

Possible causes:

 

-Loose wire connection or bad contact.

-Loose belt

-Bad voltage regulator in your alternator (bad diode).

 

Don't forget to unplug your battery before putting your hands there.

[xflow7]

Do you notice your headlights getting brighter with engine speed? If so, it's likely the voltage regulator on the alternator. Alternatively, you can put a voltmeter on the battery as you rev the engine. If the voltage soars much above 14-14.5V with RPM the regulator's shot.

[Kitcat]

How tight is "tight"? I took a look last night. The alternator belt didn't move much when I pushed it. If I pushed fairly hard it moved maybe a 1/3 inch.

[DaveD]

Hi, I am a new member to this forum. I have a 2003 S1. I had a problem with my alternator light flickering. At first it only happened now and then. Eventually it occured more frequently. I noticed that my headlights and dash lights would vary in intesity when the light was flickering. I took it to my local alternator rebuild shop and they bench tested it and said it was working fine. So I continued to run with it. It continued to get worse and eventually is was occuring more than not. During this entire time I was looking for other causes. I finally took it back to my alternator rebuild shop and asked them to go ahead and rebuild. When I picked it up they said the rectifier was bad and they replaced that as well as the regulator and such. It has been fine ever since. My alternator is off a GEO Metro and it cost me $89 to have it rebuilt.

 

PS. during this time I started getting a fuel delivery problem, which I have still not completely resolved. I keep wondering if the electrical issue helped cause the onset of the fuel issue.

 

Dave

[Kitcat]

Dave:

 

My flickering light issue has disappeared, at least for now.

 

Why not do a separate post on your fuel delivery problem? One of our members (JohnK) used to tune and/or retune S1 engines for Super Performance. Maybe he'll have a thot?

 

Mike

[DaveD]

Thanks Mike.

 

I hope the issue does not return for you. I plan to post a number of things. I have had my car since 2005 and this is the first time I have been able to talk to a support group. I am still trying to figure out how this forum works. As I figure things out I hope to get more involved with it.

 

Dave