Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Twice now when I have taken longer drives in my 69 S4, around 2 hours. I have trouble with generator. The first time, after the drive, when i turned the key off, the ignition light came on, no charge to the battery, I found a bad wire connection at the generator. The second time, I was driving at night, as I came to a stop at the signals the lights would dim. When I drove back up to speed the lights work properly. Again when I made it home and try to restart the car, the battery was dead.
When I drive it around town there are no troubles.
Can a generator over heat? From it's self or from the headers?
Any suggestions.

Stan

The best thing to do with the C40l/RB340 charging combo is not to fix it but to bin it. The most persistent and annoying Elan problems I've had over the years have been charging, ( or rather, not charging), problems.
I finally nailed them by putting in an alternator. Can't remember the exact procedure but do recall it all being a lot easier than I would have thought.
No more dead/dying batteries, dim lights. hard or non-existant starting.
Best of all, no more push starting on my own. (It is possible....just!)

It could be your battery. Does the charging light stay on while your're driving? If yes then it could be the generator needing brushes. I went the alternator route on my S1, the lights are brighter, constantly. My +2 still has the generator which has been trouble free, but when it goes on the blink I'll convert it to an alternator as well. I bought mine from RDent Enterprises in Pennsylvania.