More Electric gremlins...

[elansprint71]

Gary,
The fact that the Elan +0 was not fitted with an ammeter by the factory seems to indicate that the problem may be in this area.
Later Sprints were fitted with alternators but, as far as I can tell, no Lotus wiring diagram was produced to show this, as I found out when I did a complete re-wire on my Sprint last year.
Sounds to me like you have an extra white in there somewhere.

Good luck,
Pete.

[archigator]

Pete,

I believe you are correct. I think my Elan Sprint came with an alternator originally. The ammeter looks like it was always there too. The Elan Workshop Manual has a section on alternators, but as you say, the wiring diagram in the back of the Electrical chapter only goes up to the Elan S4 and shows a generator, not an alternator. I have found no factory-produced wiring diagram for Sprints with an alternator. (Even the CAD wiring diagram on Lotus Elan.net does not show an alternator, but shows instead a dynamo.)

I'll crawl under the dash again this weekend... I think I'm getting close. I'll try some of the remedies offered here regarding the ignition warning light. Thanks all.

Gary
'71 Elan Spint
Miami, Florida

[archigator]

I got to the back of my tachometer today, and found the two wires that attach at the Ignition Switch Lamp. One wire was brown/yellow, leading toward the firewall opening that exits next to the fusebox (toward the alternator I suppose). The second wire is blue, which I assume is not original (as blue wires are supposed to feed the headlamp circuits), and I assume should go to the ignition switch.

GUESS WHAT? THEY BOTH GO TO NOWHERE! THEY HAVE BEEN CUT! SWEET!

I wish at this time to thank my ex-mechanic and/or the dreaded previous owner (DPO) for the dollars I wasted on previous alternator rebuilds and battery purchases because someone decided to cut a few wires that got in the way...

OKAY... so the brown/yellow wire is the smaller of the three wires that go to the alternator; and the blue wire (should be brown/yellow?) goes to the ignition switch... but how does it connect? Which of the ignition switch positions is it tied into? Thanks.

Gary
'71 Elan Sprint
Miami, Florida

[Frank Howard]

Gary,

OK. The wire is supposed to be white. It should have 12V going to it. It attaches to the terminal on the ignition switch that powers the coil. (The white wire that goes to the ballast resistor and then to the positive side of the coil.) If it's getting a little crowded at the ignition switch, the white wire from the ignition light can tap into this wire through a bullet connector. Let us know how this turns out. And by the way, nice picture. How did you put the captions on there?

[archigator]

Well, I replaced the existing blue wire to nowhere at the tachometer's ignition warning lamp with a new green wire to the side of the fusebox alongside the other two green wires already there. I then ran the brown/yellow wire, from the same lamp, to the small plug on the alternator.

I turn on the key ignition switch, and the red ignition warning lamp lights up, the engine starts, and the red ignition light then goes out... the engine keeps running as it should. My alternator reads that it is charging... I turn the key switch off... the engine stops. I then take her out for a spin, no visible smoke or heat from any wiring.

SUCCESS !!! Thanks Frank; Thanks everyone.

Gary
'71 Elan Sprint
Miami, Florida

P.S. Frank, I took a digital photo, and then added text and arrows in MS Paint to get the annotated photo above.

[Frank Howard]

Gary,

You're welcome, but I don't think you'll be thanking me after reading this.

My Elan has been apart for the past 10 months while I have been performing numerous electrical upgrades. About 3 weeks ago, I got it back on the road however I did not install the under dash trims for fear that some problem would pop up and I wanted to retain access under the dash. On October 20, I decided that all was well, so I installed the trims. The next day, I read your post and because I had just installed the trims and did not want to take them out again, I relied instead on a Europa wiring diagram because that car came from the factory with an alternator.

Yesterday, the left turn signal ceased working so I had no choice but to remove the under dash trim as well as the seats and steering wheel. I still haven't figured out the direction signal problem, but while under the dash, I checked out the ignition light wiring and realized that what I posted on October 21 was incorrect. I have since revised that posting.

I will think of you while in the "Lotus position". My apologies.

[archigator]

Frank,

No problem. I looked up various Europa 1971-2 era wiring diagrams before I proceded as well, as they all have alternators shown in lieu of generators. I think the way I have it rigged is perfectly valid. The green wire that I installed opposite the white wire on the fuse box is really the same as feeding directly off the white wire circuit from the ignition switch, except for the fact that it now has a fuse in the line.

By the way, I found a great way to label wires that I picked up on a racing website. Type in the identifying text in 5pt Ariel Bold, type again on the next row, and then the same text on the next row... so you have three rows of identical text, one above the other. Cut the text out and roll around the circumfrence of the wire with double-stick tape on the back. Cut a piece of clear tube shrink-wrap (eBay), slide it over the label and hit it with a heat gun. Works great and lasts forever. As a semi-purist, I have confined my labeling to hidden locations.

Gary
'71 Elan Sprint
Miami, FL