Expert: Dick Benjamin - 11/17/2008

Question
I have a 1968 Fiat 500- recently the generator light stays on until speeds greater than 18KM- if I run lights then I have no blinker; If I drive home (2mi) with lights on then the car, turn off the car and try to re-start it- it will NOT start but then starts fine the next morning and I drive it w/o lights and just get the warning light when I stop or go under 18KM.  I checked and tightened fan belt, battery output is fine with load; put in a new voltage regulator on Friday- still the same problems and in fact this morning, the car would not start- makes noise but won't turn over.  No one seems to work on old cars like this and am tempted to just buy an Italian rebuilt generator for $350 and put that in.  Can't think of what else it could be- anything you can tell that might help?  Thanks Janelle

Answer
From the symptoms you describe, I am fairly certain that your generator is only just barely working.  Most likely, it needs to be rebuilt, but you could probably get by if you only clean the commutator section of the armature, and replace the brushes, which cost at most a few dollars.

Since it is not of US manufacture, the correct brushes might be a little hard to find, but I would think any generator/starter rebuilder would be able to adapt something close enough to make it work.

$350 for a rebuilt generator is outrageous - look in your yellow pages or use a Google search to find an old time generator/starter rebuilding shop.  Most older towns still have one in business - especially in the farming areas where there are many generators still in service.  If you can get someone to make the effort, it should cost you about $100 to get it redone and ready for another 40 years of service.

I haven't seen a 500 on the road out here in California for at least 30 years - I hope you have a safe place to drive it (which would only be a road with zero traffic and no cross streets!).

Dick