MkII Ignition light

[workshy]

Was driving upcountry the other evening when my ignition light came on. Stopped and checked for loose wires or obvious faults and couldn't find any.
drove carefuuly on with no problems but the light had refused to go out. Any ideas

[Phil Nottingham]

Regulator or dynamo brushes - follow the testing procedure in the manual

[dorsetflyer]

What Phil has quoted is correct. A glowing light on tickover is acceptable, but not when on the move, it indicates a fault in the charging circuit somewhere.
If you continue to use it when the red light is on, it won't take long before everything comes to a dead stop, as there will be nothing left in the battery.

[Workshy ltd]

Thanks guys. I am not much of a mechanic so expect more questions. I deinitely love the Rover though. My friends all laughed and told me to start saving when i bought it but almost a year now and this is 1st prob. cheers Tom

[Phil Nottingham]

If the wiring is the old fabric stuff the cables going to the dynamo can often break unseen inside or the regulator earthing needs cleaniing - balck cables

[mattkent]

hi,im suffering from a similar problem at moment with my mk2. ignition light is constantly on! showing slight negative reading on dash. can the regulator boxes be adjusted or do i need to buy a new one? anything else i should check first? cheers matt

[Phil Nottingham]

Bad earth on the regulator box and generally poor/broken connections - the boxes can be adjusted see manual and new ones are available but make sure you get the 30A one not the much cheaper and commoner 25A.

Check dynamo as well

[mattkent]

thanks phil, ive looked at the manual ,sounds complicated! have you adjusted one before? can you explain in laymans terms? thanks matt

[Phil Nottingham]

Yes I have loads of time and learnt the hard way.

Well the point is is that they should not need adjusting during their life - its only worth trying after exhausting all other causes. Suggest the following order

• Check all connexions on regulator/dynamo
  
• Test continuity of cables from regulator to dynamo with test meter/light
  
• Disconnect dynamo drive belt and connections and run heavy cable to BOTH terminlas from starter solonoid battery feed - if dynamo runs as a motor it probably OK. If not remove and check/replace brushes
  
• If still not OK after disconnecting battery remove Regulator lid and and pass cardboard betwen all contacts - then reconnect and observe if cut-out contacts are closing when engine running is speeded up.
  
• Without meters it is not possible to adjust the box properly as the procedure must be followed in the the order given. Its best to substitute a known good regulator/dynamo rather than tinker as the wiring/dyno/regulator can easily be burnt out by the wrong move!
  
  It my experience its usually broken wiring/loose connectors and then dynamo. The regulator is generally reliable.
  
  If the ignition light is on when the engine is running above idlng then the battery is not being charged and will run flat sooner rather than later