help

Hi fellow landy nutters i have been landyless for about a year and hav'nt been on here since 2012 .

Have now picked up a series 2a with s3 engine and box front wings grill etc .

all was fine i drove it back from clacton to london with no issues picked up my daughter from north greenwich went to charlton but when i went to leave she wouldnt start because of flat battery ? called the aa who left us sitting for two hours until a guy offerd us a jump and off i went.

that was the start of all my problems since then it keeps draining batterys,so checked the alternator wires and found them hanging off .

So replaced them got it running then today same problem but had a spare on charge all night so this morning fitted the battery and it now wont fire up.

checked there was juice all ok then looked at the coil which was loose on the bulk head an i noticed it was getting hot .

so left it and went in for a cupper came out had another go it fired up breifly and stopped its now drained the battery again so have another heavy duty one on charge until tomorrow .

it was running like a watch so is really confusing the guy i got it from hasnt replied so god knows.

anyone local to me in eltham that can give us advice would be much appreciated.

Iconic Series 2a Land Rover 109" LWB SIIa S2,British Classic 9 seats Tax exempt. | eBay

Going to sound stupid but check nothing has been left on like radios lights etc

Sounds like a power drain rather than not charging as its draining while parked up so got to be a live some where chap...welcome to Series electrics the fun is just beginning

If you have a multimeter do a few checks, start with the coil and see if is live with the ignition turned off which may explain why it is hot.
Unfortunately most series Landies seem to have been at the mercy of the bodgers especially the electrics. You are looking for 12.7/13.5 volts with engine off across the battery and around 14.5 with the engine running as a simple charging check.
Have fun and let us know how you get on.

For a quick check connect one lead to battery and preferably in the dark touch the other on should be no spark if there is you will need to disconnect parts of the system and try again. As ignition coil was hot I would try that 1st .

Series lands have some of the simplest and most messed about with electrics in the world (cause and effect?)
You'll need a multimeter (a really cheap one will do) and a circuit diagram plus some fine wet and dry and a can of switch cleaner to cope with the old corroded connections.

pdf Land Rover Manuals | Landroverweb.com might help.

Thanks for all the advice ,i think its the alternator i charged the battery overnight an this morning it fired up an ran like a watch drove it all thye way to brands hatch and back no problems.

Then tonight i drove to my daughters around twenty mins round trip came back turned it off tried to restart and was dead ,so it only seems to do it when tyhe lights are on!

i love it to bits though

Does sound like the alternator. As has been said grab a multimeter and check it before buying a new one though

OK, does the ignition (red) light come on when the engine is stationary and the ignition is switched on and then does it go off when the engine is running? Does it come on if you turn the lights on? Is the fan belt tight? Could well be the alternator, might be worth replacing it 'cos they're not particularly dear.

Hi the ignition light was on but now theres no light the clock lights and horn have stopped working ,i adjusted the belt and checked the wires to the alternator were attached,they had come off so were re atached.

Re the alternator wires theres a small spade connector which is the 1st one then
a larger one which i think was on the second conection but theres also a third male connection which seems spare .

so is the larger one on the right one or does it go on 3rd one ?
hope that makes sense.

sorry the battery still goes flat after the wires were re attached so it does look like it is the alternator.

it looks new but as always could still be suspect what would you advise would be the best one to go for and where from.

sorry to be a pain.

If original the wires would have been in a plug.
The two large are actually connected together in the alternator the small is from the bulb in the dash and is the excitation wire should have 12V on it if you disconnect at alternator end then turn ignition on without that 12V volt the alternator will not charge. Check 1st before you buy a new alternator.

Ok thanks for the tip ill check it out

also with lucas alternators if the charge light bulb has blown or become disconnected somewhere they wont charge so worth checking the light comes on with the ignition turned on

As the Alternator wires seem to be coming off regularly I'd suggest changing the connectors or crimping them up slightly.

Mine did similar, when we had one, traced eventually to a sticking starter solenoid and poor earths. Removed, stripped, cleaned and replaced starter, new decent earth straps and all was good!

I take it the wire clip to hold the connector to alternator is still there ? I packed mine out with a thin bit of rubber to stop the connector working loose.

Some lucas alternators need to have both large terminals connected together to make the alternator to work. So if you only have one large connector then add another to the second connector with a bit of wire crimped to it and then solder it to the feed wire to the battery. Like in the photos.


The photos are from a dynamo to alternator conversion on a morris minor.

In this post View topic - Lucas Alternator Rebuild
the second large connection is shown on a different section of the rectifier , if that is the case you will need to connect it.
The plug parts can be found on ebay.
lucas alternator plug | eBay

On some alternators one of the larger connectors is use to control the output voltage so both should be connected. Occasionally the voltage regulator in the alternator goes "leaky" and will run the battery down. The lack of horn and dash illumination is a bit worrying as one comes off the ignition switch and the other comes off the battery, neither via a fuse. Yup, you're gonna need a meter and a wiring diagram.....

Hi thats some fantastic advice thanks to all of you ,i had to take it to autolech in eltham who is a landy lover as well .

The wireing was so shoddy it was it was a joke he run new wires and the tested the alternator wich was the main problem so he made a call a recon lucas one came to 90 quid,he went straight under the old girl wipped it orf and hey presto it had been reconed (or should that be right conned) before with cheap chinese rubbish !!

So orf he went 15 mins later he was back fitted it up and tested it ,and she is now all correct and running like a dream.

All in it came to £246 an that was with the vat but im so pleased with the way he couldnt do enough for me so if any landy lovers need help give them a shout hes a top bloke.

I cant keep out of the old girl and love it even more i even went and got it all dirty up at chalk woods as it was too clean mucho happy and thanks again for all the help and advice peeps.

sweet looking truck glad you got it sorted


wish I was close to eltham that autoleck outfit do look good bet they could sort my s3 in a fraction of the time its taking me