iraqi devil

btw i took the exciter wire and clip off of my old alternator and put it on the new one just plug and play .... i didnt have to do anything special did i or jump a diffrent pin? which pin was supposed to be jumped it was the second one from the place where the terminals mount.....

iraqi devil

i also did the big 3 while i was at it .... but i didnt put a fuse like others did .. in all my cars i do the big 3 and have never had a problem without a fuse .... just want to get this annyoing *** problem fixed

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I would hook up a voltgauge to the battery and watch and see if the voltage does fluctuate or maybe the gauge is just going retarded, start there first. It could still be a faulty alternator. Did you check the connector that connects to the fuse box? My Saturn did some weird things because of a bad connection there.

I may have missed it but do you have an underdrive pulley? If so it may be running the alternator too slow. And it would be a better idea to run you starter wire off the battery not the fuse box. I don't like the idea of running 3-400 amps through a connection at the fuse panel myself, it will probably be okay, thats just me though.


I have no idea why, it sounds like a short somewhere, maybe some wiring that shorts or stretches when the engine twists one way from being in reverse and not in drive, but I do know that until you start looking you won't find it. This is one of those problems that you are just going to have to start hunting down wiring and looking for anything abnormal. Also try checking the connection at the fuse box like I stated earlier, my Saturn would chime and shut off at times also and when I cleaned the connection at the fuse box the problem went away.

iraqi devil

good point will investigate once i get off from work.......this is the weirdest problem ive seen !! another set of questions..... how can i tell if the alternator is actually working?
also where does the gauge on the dash get its reading from and is it accurate ? once i turn on my HIDS...the meter actually rises.... um nooo more strain and the meter should go lower!!! i must have a short then..anyone seen that happen

krissoto

iTrader: (3)

Yes I do have an underdrive, and i also have the smaller pulley on the alt as well. So Should I run another wire to my starter? I am running 4 guage wire now. And I wired it as per a diagramn in the drag race section I believe.

iraqi devil

so i redid the ground from the block to the chasis cleaned up the terminals triple checked all connections and ....NOTHING..... i jacked up the car from the rear put it in reverse and floored it and the problem dosent happen i put the car on the ground and sure enough it does ...must be flexing or the tq converter messes up and kills the car..anyway the damn volt gague indash goes up when i turn my hids on.....i have the standard 35 watt kit.....maybe i need a ground kit? any insight would help

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

If its starting okay don't worry about it, it should be just fine. I just have a personal preference on the starter wiring, but it's not because of a actual justified reason, just preference.

And on the alternator pulley, is it an underdrive or overdrive on the alternator, they make both. I understand you have a underdrive on the crankshaft, that can cause voltage drop at idle, and so can the alternator UNDERdrive, the alt OVERdrive pulley is supposed to make up for the reduced speed caused by installing an underdrive crankshaft pulley. Some people have issues with underdrive pulleys causing voltage drop at idle, others don't...

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

If I had to guess I would say you have a bad connection somewhere, and I would look closely at the exciter wire that plugs into the alternator that wire is barely long enough to reach the truck alternator and it may be getting pulled on, I would wiggle it while someone watched the guage. I replaced mine with a new one so that I knew I would not have any problems, they are cheap and extremely easy to replace.


Other than that I don't know, your problem is abnormal and just can't be diagnosed on the internet with the little bit of info you have, try starting a thread about it, that will help more than posting here. It will get more attention if it is it's own post, you may need to take it to a mechanic though.

Here are some ideas though: Did you check wiring to the fuse panel? Did you verify the erratic voltage with a voltmeter at the battery and at the alternator or are you relying on your voltmeter in the guage cluster. Have you looked up and down the wiring loom under the hood and around the transmission for frayed/shorted wiring? Have you checked to make sure you alternator case is grounded well with an ohm meter? These are all things you need to check plus some..

But again, you would get better help if you started a thread about your specific problem.

iraqi devil

actually my exciter wire was long enough with plenty of room to spare the clip on the alternator is on the top of the alternator closer to the drivers side .... and its not loosei will try to giggle that wire

iraqi devil

where does the exciter wire connect to from the alternator i cant tell where it leads too?

krissoto

iTrader: (3)

the voltage does not change tho, when I am in the throttle. I even did this with my headlights at night. No change, I have been advised that the gauges are not at all correct, my thing is, it didn't do this until I moved my battery. The pulley that I am running on the alt, is a lot smaller than stock.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

it runs from the alternator to the computer.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Did you verify this with a DVOM?

Edit: Almost sounds like you have a connection breaking down. I would take a spare piece of wire and run it from the alternator to the fuse panel lug and see if it changes anything. I would start there.

Oh and sorry DVOW is Digital-Volt-Ohm-Meter, in other words a volt meter.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

And there really isn't a need to have the wire from the battery all the way to the alternator along with the 1/0 wire that goes from the battery to the fuse panel lug. Since you are using the fuse panel lug as a breakout point you could hook a wire directly from the alternator to there instead of running it through the car.

I would think it would work just as well if not better if you took that 4 guage that runs from the batt to the alternator and hook it to the starter instead, and I would take the wire you have hooked to the starter and hook it to the alternator. This way the starter is hooked directly to the battery, the alternator directly to the fuse panel lug that powers everything in the car, and the battery will be charged by the 1/0 wire that is hooked to the fuse panel.


It's a shoot from the hip idea so if something I typed didn't make sense that's why.

lvbroham1

I have hooked up a multimeter and yes it did fluctuate after warming up at the battery. The fuse power source could be the problem, since i've done mostly everything else possible to hunt this problem down, it would only make sense to replace that power wire also. I'll post the results on here over the weekend once i can get my hands on it.

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

Hmm, and no there is no inline fuse you are missing, I would also check the ohm's of resistance between the alternator case and engine, then check that against the ground on the battery to ensure that the alternator is grounded well to the engine and the engine is grounded well to the battery, then test the power directly out of the back of the alternator and see if it fluctuates. If it does it sounds like it is going to be the alternator.

iraqi devil

how would i go about upgrading/replacing the exciter wire?

00pooterSS

iTrader: (40)

I just replaced the pigtail on mine, if you wanted to do the whole wire you would have to open up the wiring harness, trace it to the computer, pull the pin out of the socket at the computer and re-run the wire.

I got a pigtail at NAPA, I wouldn't be as concerned with the entire wire as I would the pigtail. And if you wanted to replace the whole thing, you would have to go buy a pigtail and get your own wire and pin to re-run it anyway since you can't buy just one wire, you have to buy the entire harness.

krissoto

iTrader: (3)

Reason I ran the 4 gauge from the batt to the alt is for the kill switch on the rear of my car.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...lternator.html

my monster alt install is complete......chek it out