major alternator issue! (caution: lots of reading)
major alternator issue! (caution: lots of reading) i have a 1998 z28 and all winter i have been doing a total redo on the car all winter and finally finished my project (turbo build up)... i relocated the battery to the passenger side wheel well and i replaced the battery with a fresh new one. the alt is relocated to the passenger side of the cyl. head.
When i had the car running for the first time the alt wasnt charging at all and the car died shortly after. it was an old alt, so i replaced it with a brand new one and i made sure i fully charged the battery for the next time i try it with the new alt.
i started it up again and it was charging fine for 10 mins and i had to shut off the car because it was getting a little warm. i started it again after it cooled and it wasnt charging again... i took it off and thought i would just go to autozone for them to test it on their bench tester and it failed... so i exchanged it for another new one and i got it on the vehicle and started it up and it was not charging what so ever and the car turned off due to no power.
i dont know if i can take the small red wire that is connected to the regulator on the alt and jump it to the battery and see if it will charge? or would that be a bad idea... im sure the small red wire goes to the voltage meter on the instrument panel so i would have to splice into it and jump it to the battery
i check the voltage of the small red wire and it is reading .5 under terminal voltage, where as the big wire connected to the alt is reading the same as terminal.
Thanks
When i had the car running for the first time the alt wasnt charging at all and the car died shortly after. it was an old alt, so i replaced it with a brand new one and i made sure i fully charged the battery for the next time i try it with the new alt.
i started it up again and it was charging fine for 10 mins and i had to shut off the car because it was getting a little warm. i started it again after it cooled and it wasnt charging again... i took it off and thought i would just go to autozone for them to test it on their bench tester and it failed... so i exchanged it for another new one and i got it on the vehicle and started it up and it was not charging what so ever and the car turned off due to no power.
i dont know if i can take the small red wire that is connected to the regulator on the alt and jump it to the battery and see if it will charge? or would that be a bad idea... im sure the small red wire goes to the voltage meter on the instrument panel so i would have to splice into it and jump it to the battery
i check the voltage of the small red wire and it is reading .5 under terminal voltage, where as the big wire connected to the alt is reading the same as terminal.
Thanks
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 34,643
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From: Schiller Park, ILL Member: #317
When i had the car running for the first time the alt wasnt charging at all and the car died shortly after. it was an old alt, so i replaced it with a brand new one and i made sure i fully charged the battery for the next time i try it with the new alt.
i started it up again and it was charging fine for 10 mins and i had to shut off the car because it was getting a little warm. i started it again after it cooled and it wasnt charging again... i took it off and thought i would just go to autozone for them to test it on their bench tester and it failed... so i exchanged it for another new one and i got it on the vehicle and started it up and it was not charging what so ever and the car turned off due to no power.
i started it up again and it was charging fine for 10 mins and i had to shut off the car because it was getting a little warm. i started it again after it cooled and it wasnt charging again... i took it off and thought i would just go to autozone for them to test it on their bench tester and it failed... so i exchanged it for another new one and i got it on the vehicle and started it up and it was not charging what so ever and the car turned off due to no power.
Then again, alternators from parts store chains tend to be crap. I once went through 6 of them before getting a decent one. So that might be the problem too. Now I always just get new ones from GM and have never had that problem again.
The little red wire is an exciter/field wire. As long as you're reading voltage off of it, meaning that it's connected solidly and the wire isn't broken, then this should not be your problem.
Are you sure that the battery isn't bad? Perhaps rejecting the charge and damaging the new alternators? Sounds like the one time it worked fine was after you gave the battery a bench charge. Every other time there's been a problem.
Then again, alternators from parts store chains tend to be crap. I once went through 6 of them before getting a decent one. So that might be the problem too. Now I always just get new ones from GM and have never had that problem again.
The little red wire is an exciter/field wire. As long as you're reading voltage off of it, meaning that it's connected solidly and the wire isn't broken, then this should not be your problem.
Then again, alternators from parts store chains tend to be crap. I once went through 6 of them before getting a decent one. So that might be the problem too. Now I always just get new ones from GM and have never had that problem again.
The little red wire is an exciter/field wire. As long as you're reading voltage off of it, meaning that it's connected solidly and the wire isn't broken, then this should not be your problem.
Thanks for all the input
