Ignition light at start up

vinnief · Post by **vinnief** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 8:45 am

Hi all, a mechanic friend of mine in Oz has queried the non existence of an ignition dash light on my roadster. Since I haven't driven mine for over 15yrs you have to forgive me for even asking! I'm sure it doesn't have one? ....Correct?
Cheers Vinnie.

greydog · Post by **greydog** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:21 am

Not certain what an "ignition light" is.
If he's talking about a charge light or "idiot light", you are correct. There is none.
Instead, you have an ammeter.
Dan

vinnief · Post by **vinnief** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:49 am

Thanks Dan, that's what I suspected too.
I think my friend is used to seeing the alternator charge light on modern cars.
So would I be silly also to ask if anyone has attempted to fit one? The thinking here is that inadvertently leaving the ign. to ON, will cook the ignition wire to the coil?
Cheers

Post by **Linda** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 2:06 pm

You can get a plug in device that goes into the cigarette lighter, it shows the state of your battery and if your alt is charging too low, too high or correct. Very useful.
https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3721-Batt ... CZGY8MQ1R9

Linda

greydog · Post by **greydog** » Tue Sep 17, 2019 3:58 pm

Our '69 1600 has a gm 10 si alternator. The Sbrake like is wired to act as a charge light. Not hard to do with the GM alty but I'm not sure how it would be done with the factory alternator/voltage regulator setup.
Dan

TurboRagtop · Post by **TurboRagtop** » Wed Sep 18, 2019 1:14 am

My â€˜66 also has a GM alternator which made it easy to hook up the charge warning light. It had a half inch hole in the dash already from a previous installation so I used the Amazon lamp/bezel; it worked fine.

Charge light

Amazon item

Nissanman · Post by **Nissanman** » Wed Sep 18, 2019 3:05 am

The original Voltage Regulator has an "L" [Lamp] terminal on it for exactly that purpose.
Just run a wire from the VR to an auxiliary lamp with positive behind it and VOILA

VR tags labelled.jpg

Alternator grounding.jpg

vinnief · Post by **vinnief** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:46 am

Cheers guys, the existence of the unused L circuit on the regulator is a 'penny drop' moment! I believe the same regulators are/have been used on 510s, Zeds & some other early Datsun models, all of which have charge lights so that makes sense....nice work guys!
Thanks for all the other different ideas too.
Cheers Vinnie

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Ignition light at start up

Ignition light at start up

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