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major alternator issue! (caution: lots of reading)

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Old 04-04-2010, 10:37 AM
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Default 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
Old 04-04-2010, 11:12 AM
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That small red wire goes between alternator and PCM- regulates how much charge is needed.
Old 04-04-2010, 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by vikingramair
That small red wire goes between alternator and PCM- regulates how much charge is needed.
so it would make since that it is getting a good amount of resistance and it would want to over charge... but it isnt... its confusing
Old 04-04-2010, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by importkiller_SS
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.
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.
Old 04-04-2010, 09:46 PM
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Originally Posted by RPM WS6
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.
Well i figured it out... finally, i just had to fully charge the battery again... something sooo simple causes that much trouble, it seems very crucial to have proper battery voltage especially with my battery relocated to the rear.
Thanks for all the input




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