Dash warning light

[Max(SD)]

This light has come on this week. I thought this was the oil pressure light, checked the oil, everything is in order, plenty of oil, pressure while running is around 55.

Any thoughts?

I should add, its a 1959 SII, 88"

[HybridIIA]

This light has come on this week. I thought this was the oil pressure light, checked the oil, everything is in order, plenty of oil, pressure while running is around 55.

Any thoughts?

I should add, its a 1959 SII, 88"

That's your charge warning light. It is likely your voltage regulator or generator that has a fault.

[Max(SD)]

When it comes to electric I am a complete idiot. I can take mechanical things apart and get them back together more or less alright, but with electrics total stupidity.

What should I do with this light, where you I be looking to diagnose the problem?

Thank you.

[TeriAnn]

When it comes to electric I am a complete idiot.
What should I do with this light, where you I be looking to diagnose the problem?

Probably the best thing is not to ignore the light.

First thing to do is check to see if there are no loose or disconnected wires on the generator or the voltage regulator. And check to see if the fan belt is loose.

Most of the time when a generator goes out the brushes are worn out and need to be replaced.

Disconnect one pole of the battery. Remove the generator taking note of what wire goes where. Most auto parts stores can bench test it for you to see if there is any problem.

The simple method is if the generator tests bad either replace it or have it rebuilt if there is an auto electrics place in town. A rebuild usually includes new brushes and new bushings and maybe the commutator turned to it is smooth. New bushings should be machined for roundness after they are installed.

If the generator tests good, check the voltage regulator. With the battery still disconnected flip the bale handle and remove the cover. It should be clean and rust free inside. Look at the point contact surfaced for pitting. A jewelers file can be used to smooth out any pitting. Sometimes a regulator fails because of the contacts being dirty and sometimes because of pitting. You can spray electrical contact cleaner on the contacts.

There is a series of voltage regulator tests you can go though if you were good at auto electrics, but cleaning contacts and using a very fine file or fine grit sand paper of corroded contacts should be doable. Contacts have a thin metal coating that inhibits them from pitting. When they become pitted cleaning them is a short term solution because the protection from pitting is gone. The long term solution is to replace the voltage regulator.

The steps:

1. check for loose fan belt

2. check for broken or loose wires connecting generator & voltage regulator

3. Clean battery terminals, battery to frame connection & both sides of frame to engine ground strap. A dirty connection can keep a system from charging

4. Disconnect battery, remove generator & have it bench checked at an auto parts store.

5. remove top of voltage regulator, check for contact pitting and spray contacts with contact cleaner.

This should catch 80-90% of the problems. If you still have a problem you need to have someone who knows auto electrics check the charging system.

[Sputnicker]

I have a 60 Series 2 and that light is for oil pressure and the charging light is top center where someone has put a gauge in your dash. Later cars had lights in different places. So, it could be either charging, or oil pressure, depending on what mods were made. If it's oil pressure, the switch (mine is on a fitting attached to the oil filter housing) could be bad, or you could have a short in the wiring. With a $15 volt meter (a good investment for Series owners), you could easily check the charging system. Just connect it to any ground and hot wire and see if the voltage increases (should be more than 13 volts) when you raise RPMs. Without a volt meter, you can usually tell by seeing if your headlights get brighter when you raise RPMs (it has to be dark enough to see the difference).

[Max(SD)]

Great, thank you for the great advice. Cleaned up some of the wire connections and light has gone out.