wum

Hi Guys,

I bumped another thread regarding installing alternators, but haven't had a response, so I'm posting in a separate thread. I pulled my alternator a few weeks back to have it tested and it failed. I ordered a 160 watt alternator and installed it today. I bought the car used and the previous owner relocated the battery to the rear of the car. I connected the cable that runs to the starter to the alternator with the bolt on the top of the alternator on the drivers side - is this right? Also, I got everything installed, but I couldn't remember what connected to the 13 mm bolt in the rear of the alternator (near the bottom).

I have a cable (same gauge as the cable running to the starter) running from the fuse box that wasn't connected to anything, I couldn't remember if that connected to the 13mm bolt, so I connected it there. When I tried to connect the battery I got massive sparks. I then disconnected it from the 13 mm bolt and tried grounding it to the block. But I still got sparks when I tried to connect the battery.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Mike

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

Starter, Alt, and fuse block wire all go to the +.

wum

OK, thanks. Here's the cable from the fuse box. Are you saying that this cable connects to the alternator in the same spot as the cable to the starter at the upper - driver side mounting location?

wum

Here's where the starter cable is currently connected.

wum

here's the bolt at the back of the alternator. what goes here?

Thanks!

BirdsSince16

iTrader: (3)

Check for a dead short. You may have an exposed wire touching metal somewhere down the line.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

starter is connected to the alt??? can that be a good thing???

wum

several people have suggested that the fuse and starter wire get mounted on the bolt at the lower middle back of the alternator in post #5. I'll give that a shot and see how it goes.

wum

well, i connected the starter and fuse wires to the stud at the back of the alternator and when I attached the battery there were no sparks, but when i tried starting the car i got one click, the radio and instrument panel worked, but the car didn't start. The battery was charged just before and had around 13 volts when I tried to start the car. I changed the starter just before I changed the alternator and it started fine, so i'm pretty sure my issue is still with the alternator. any thoughts?

Tramminc

You have a short somewhere, voltage is going to ground. Use a test meter...

wum

OK, I'll pick up a test meter this week. had the battery checked and it's fine. I checked all the cables - no exposed wire and all connections seem fine. anything else I should check along with using a test meter?

The_Bishop

iTrader: (10)

That battery that was hanging in the wind was probably the original power lead from the alternator to the fuse block. It sounds like you have connected it to the rear case bolt hole where there used to be a bracket connecting the alternator to the block. This will create a dead short to ground, and I hope you didn't cook anything important.

BirdsSince16

iTrader: (3)

Tracking down cooked wires can be a pain. Almost as bad as getting everything back in the looms.

Tramminc

This is what U need, it's a ground finder with arrow to show the location of the ground. U may find 1 at radioshack



Or U may go old school buy removing all the ground wires than put a light blub in series between the battery and other components. it will stay lit until you find and clear the ground.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_459tiin6fe_b