Water Temp Gauge - Voltage Stabiliser?

[bcmc33]

Is there a voltage regulator in an Elan? If so, where?

[oldelanman]

Hi Brian,
Happy New Year. I see you won the prize for the first post of 2010.

Yes there is a voltage stabilizer on the Elan it's mounted on the back of the speedo.

[terryp]

Thank for the picture Mark. I should be able to find it now. Its behind the trim that screwed on, I didn't look there!
When's your car going to be finished Sean? Early 2010?

Terry

[bcmc33]

Yes there is a voltage stabilizer on the Elan it's mounted on the back of the speedo.

Roger,

Thank's for the picture, but my car does not seem to have one - that's why I asked the question.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Yes there is a voltage stabilizer on the Elan it's mounted on the back of the speedo.

Roger,

Thank's for the picture, but my car does not seem to have one - that's why I asked the question.

Dash Rear Complete 2.jpg

Maybe the PO moved it to another place behind the Dash?
I did that because it makes removal of the Speedo from the Dash so much easier; the Stabiliser used to catch on the Speedo aperture & made it almost impossible to remove.
I think I'm correct in thinking that the Fuel Gauge will not work (properly) without the Stabiliser?
I found out when re-sighting the Stabiliser, to my enlightenment that it needs Earthing; something that happened automatically when it was attached to the Speedo.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE"

Cheers
John

[john.p.clegg]

Brian (friend)

If you car is Negative earth and you want a solid state voltage stabiliser in the original can,I should have some left from the batch I made up a couple of years ago...

John

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Brian,

I've taken a closer look at the Photo & you can see the attachment points for the Stabiliser.
As viewed:-
Just above the lower Speedo fixing Clamp there is a hole where a self tapper holds one end of the Stabiliser & vertically above it a clip pressed out of the Speedo Body that locates the other end of the Stabiliser.

Cheers
John

[alaric]

Hi Terry.

Well, I saw in the new year in the garage with the elan and a glass of wine - the family is in London with belle-mere and me joining some freinds in fancy dress in town just didn't appeal. I've promised the elan more attention this year. At the moment I've planned around a May completion timescale.

All the best.

Sean.

[bcmc33]

Well guys, guess what? There is a voltage stabiliser floating free behind the dash as John suggested.

However, I can confirm that it is not grounded - does this mean it isn't doing anything useful?

[alaric]

Hi. The regulator works by heating a bi-metalic strip. The heater element in the regulator should be grounded. When it's working the heat breaks the direct connection of the instruments to the battery, so, if the heater is not grounded, the instruments are effectively connected permanently directly to the battery. So one might expect the temperature guage, for example, to be reading high, as that also relies upon a heater and is calibrated against the regulated voltage.

Sean.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Well guys, guess what? There is a voltage stabiliser floating free behind the dash as John suggested.

However, I can confirm that it is not grounded - does this mean it isn't doing anything useful?

If it's not Earthed it won't have a complete Circuit & if you get a Fuel Gauge reading it will be incorrect.
Our friend Cleggy will know the ins & outs of it.
I learned the hard way; when rebuilding my Car I made the Stabiliser "free floating" remembering the difficulty I'd had removing the Speedo from the Dash.
When complete the Fuel Gauge didn't work correctly so a Cleggy solid state Stabiliser was invested in.
Access was easy via the Radio Slot.
No joy!
New Sender Unit fitted which meant draining the Tank & removing it.
No joy!
Only then did I seek advice; answer was, Earth the Stabiliser Casing.
Geronimo!
It was great knowing how much Fuel was in the Tank instead continually of topping up "just to be sure".
Electrics; a Tool of the Devil !!!
Yer lives'n learns; it's only money & nerves after all

John

[alan71]

Some stabilisers have an earth connection, the black wire in this photo.

Alan

[bcmc33]

O.K. guys, I shall put an earth connection to it.

Having said that - the original Lotus fuel gauge/sender seemed OK and the new sender from a Mondeo was very accurate when I checked the gauge with a dip stick in the tank. However, the temperature gauge always seemed to read low.

[oldelanman]

Having said that - the original Lotus fuel gauge/sender seemed OK and the new sender from a Mondeo was very accurate when I checked the gauge with a dip stick in the tank. However, the temperature gauge always seemed to read low.

Beware of "cross threading" ...this is a Plus 2 thread and Brian is I think talking about the Elan which has a capillary temperature gauge which is purely mechanical.

[bcmc33]

Beware of "cross threading" ...this is a Plus 2 thread and Brian is I think talking about the Elan which has a capillary temperature gauge which is purely mechanical.

Of course, of course - stupid me