Hi Guys Slight problem with my Elise (sorry) it runs a vhpd engine.
Anyway last night I was out in the car and giving it some stick! When the engine is under load and revs are starting to climb (i.e full throttle) the battery light on the stack dash starts to flash very quickly! I tried turning the lights heater off etc and the problem was still there. So I plugged my laptop upto the emerald and checked the battery voltage 13.9 all electric off engine running at idle lights on drops to about 13.7. So I took it for another run. Again when under load the light starts flashing looking at the volatge on the emearld and it never drops! The engine never miss fires so could it be just a dodgy wire on the alt or something?
It had a new alt last year and I cleaned all the engine earths and start motor connections just the other weekend.
Thats indicitave of an alerternator problem, try a search on alternator problems and you should find quite a bit of info, That however is what normally happens when alternator is starting to go, only comes on at high revs.
It’s exactly what happened to mine, used to flash on track at very high rpm, then started doing it on throttle everytime at Snetterton, cue AA lowloader home!
Then a brand new Alternator fitted by my local dealer (thank god for warranty!)
just reach down with your hand first and check the wires are tight on the terminals - you should not be able to feel any free play in the cables on the alternator posts. If they are loose the nuts are loose and this can give you the same fault you have indicated.
Fried alternators whilst not too common seem to happened frequently - how are you cooling the alternator and shielding it from the manifold?
Exactly those symptoms on my Exige when it was 6 months old it was the alternator gave out on a bank holiday AA job to get home they then told me they would not take me to the dealer as only 1 call per fault
Found this on SELOC today might help
FS: Exige Alternator, still sealed in its box �130
Sure is an alternator on the way out - IDG can confirm that total failure will happen soon if you see the flashing as you describe
Sadly I can!
[I’m about to comment on something I don’t know too well, so please anybody jump in and correct/confirm] You may find it’s actually the recifier part of the alternator, which turns the alternating current in to DC. That may explain why the volts don’t read as dropping. Either way it’ll probably detonate shortly and you’ll need a replacement. It took mine well over a thousand miles and three trackdays before it went though. I thoroughly recommend having a kind, knowledgeable, well connected, warm-hearted Exige owner with a trailer with you when it goes though.
Once fixed, I placed a foil hose from the side vent straight at the alternator (fixed in place with tie-wraps) to try and keep the new one cooler.