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Charging Problem!

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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 12:45 PM
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Default Charging Problem!/Fixed it!

So I put an new Alternator on my car. Still having a problem.

When I get on the gas, the volt gauge heads south, down to like 7 or 8 volts, and stays there until I let the car return to idle! I can't figure it out, and it's pissing me off!

I have ruled out:

The alternator
broken elastomor in the balance
worn tensioner
belt
balancer spinning on the crank

Now, when I did the alternator swap, I pulled (accidently) the wire out of the one wire plug. I lengthined it and plugged it back in.

My question, more or less, is what does that wire do?
Does it measure wolt, controle something, both, or what?

Could lengthening it have cause my problem?

Coult it be a bad ground somewhere? hwo do I find it if it's not visible?

Could it be bad coils or something? (put new wires on it, so not the pronlem)

What the hell could it be?

Last edited by I8YOR50; Sep 25, 2006 at 04:25 PM.
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 01:15 PM
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BUMP!

need help with this please!
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 08:46 PM
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If your car is a 99 & up that one wire is the field control for the alternator to the PCM.
Those connectors have been problematic in the past. You should replace the end w/ a repair end(remove & match it up) Or try to take the terminal apart & get another terminal & reconnect & assemble. The terminal is losked in the plastic case. Take your time & use a pin to disengage it to disassemble the connector/terminal.
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Old Sep 23, 2006 | 09:45 PM
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The one wire is the field feedback for the altenator. The altenator has an internal voltage regulator. It needs a voltage feedback to sense if the voltage is low or high. If the voltage is low, the altenator puts out more voltage. The feedback wire should go from the altenator to the distribution block by the battery. I would say you are not getting a good connection to the altenator. You can check the altenator output by putting a voltmeter right on the back of the output wire. At idle you should have around 14VDC. You should be seeing the same on the feedback wire to the altenator.
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Old Sep 25, 2006 | 11:55 AM
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I figureed it out.

It after all was that wire. In the past, when I removed the engine, I broke off that wire. I lengthined it with a bigger gaug
Thanks guys!e wire. After that, I started having charging prblems. SO I thought the alt. was toast as old as it was. So I replaced it. Again, I broke this wire, only this time I pulled out of the plug. So I lengthined it again.

Well, I took all that crap I put in there out, got the correct gauge wire, and put it back to the terribly short length it's suposed to be, and that resolved the problem!

My friend from FuelSlut, theheadfl, told me that i likely changed to resistance that the pcm and internal regulator was looking for making it go hay-wire. He ws right, and It work fine now.
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Old Sep 25, 2006 | 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by I8YOR50
My friend from FuelSlut, theheadfl, told me that i likely changed to resistance that the pcm and internal regulator was looking for making it go hay-wire. He ws right, and It work fine now.
That would be likely what the deal was. The 99's & up use a pulse width modulated voltage regulator. It only has 5 volts going to it.
so it is very sensitive to connection issues.
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