My name is Russell Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Have been having alternator problems for months now Just put in one that I 100% know works Have just solid wired a wire from the positive terminal of the battery to the back of the alternator that tells it to turn on But its giving fickle results on min it will be reading 14V at the battery the next min nothing Sometimes i can turn the kill switch off and the car still runs of the alternator then the next time i try it she stalls a doz times in a row The two positive wires that shoot of the back of the alternator into the loom were do they go off too? what could be faulty with them as they are the last thing i could thing of there being a problem with. Should i solid wire them back to the battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 What did you change or add to the car immediately before you started having charging issues mate? EDIT: Does the kill switch have a big red key? I have been through a number of them, even Hella ones. They do not last long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 The alternators bushes stuffed out so Aiden and i got a new one tested it on bench and it worked fine fitted it and it didn't go on the car traced back the bottom wire forget the name again that activates it to turn on found it went back to an earth when we needed a positive so we figured the old one musn;t have needed an earth as we had been told some don't. so fed a 12v feed to the back of the alternator, on Friday it put out 14v sat none Sunday 14v today none sort of deal is what im getting now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Really? You did not add an extra gauge, light, wire, hose, weld or anything whatsoever in the week leading up to the alternator failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Really? You did not add an extra gauge, light, wire, hose, weld or anything whatsoever in the week leading up to the alternator failure? Nope nothing whats so ever Its been temperamental for a while now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Really? You did not add an extra gauge, light, wire, hose, weld or anything whatsoever in the week leading up to the alternator failure? Nope nothing whats so ever Its been temperamental for a while now You slack cunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 most probably getting a feed back from something when you melted all those wires in the fire... sounds epically cunty to find.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 Really? You did not add an extra gauge, light, wire, hose, weld or anything whatsoever in the week leading up to the alternator failure? Nope nothing whats so ever Its been temperamental for a while now You slack cunt. Took me ages to work out that it was the alternator i thought it was just bad connections to the battery I now has 6 alternators but cant get any to work!?! Can i just wire all 3 of the red ones back to the battery?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 most probably getting a feed back from something when you melted all those wires in the fire...sounds epically cunty to find.. The thing i dont understand is i have effectivbely hard wired it ... there are only 3 terminals that one of it the two large red wires just join each other and go directly the the battery i presume the the other wire is directly going to the battery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Requiemk Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 internal or external regulator? make sure your earth to engine has good contact. Is it blowing any fuses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unclejake Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Seriously now: Your alternator will have four circuits: 1) The power feed to the battery. This will be the tickest wire and is possibly brown, it feeds positive voltage into the circuit. 2) The exciter wire. This tells the alternator to charge the circuit when the ignition is on and the alternator is spinning. The purpose of that signal wire (the exciter) is to prevent accidental discharge of the battery via. the alternator when the engine is not running. The exciter wire needs positive voltage. 3) The "idiot light' wire. This wire turns OFF the red light on the dash that tells you that the alternator is not charging. I THINK that light is switched to earth (like and oil pressure light) rather than to positive but I can not remember. 4) The earth. Your alternator is earthed via. the bolts, bracket and engine block. Do you have a relaible earth between the block and the chassis and is the battery well earthed to the chassis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 internal or external regulator? make sure your earth to engine has good contact.Is it blowing any fuses? Not blowing any fuses and engine has a good earth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KKtrips Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 most probably getting a feed back from something when you melted all those wires in the fire...sounds epically cunty to find.. The thing i dont understand is i have effectivbely hard wired it ... there are only 3 terminals that one of it the two large red wires just join each other and go directly the the battery i presume the the other wire is directly going to the battery I have no idea dude -half the problem sounds like you are blindly connecting wires to the battery and or the ignition hoping for it to run.. I would say 1 - would go to the ignition switch 2 - would go to the idiot light on the dash 3 - would go to the battery Thats my guess but I am far from knowledgable on eletrickery edit - what Jake said.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTERUS Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Last time i looked at a scrote alt the plug on the back of it was quite brittle and make very average contact. Gave all the contacts some love with a file or other such abrasive device and all was well in scrote land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truenotch Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Is your charge light turning on before you start the car? It should come on when the key is set to "on" and go out when the engine is running. If the bulbs blown then the exciter circuit wont be complete and the alt wont turn on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84_S12 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 If you are simply changing the 2 pin plug into each alternator as you replace it, be aware that these may have different polarities between say lucas and mitsi types for example. I had similar problems when I changed out my original alternator for a refurbished Lucas, cottoned on to the fact that the DC in was always energised even with the ignition turned off. Cut the stupid plug off, put a couple of female spade terminals on and physically swapped the wires on the alternator... Never looked back or had a problem since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forced Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 What it comes down to.......is the fact that you need a wiring diagram for the car. Different types of alternators work differently, likewise different cars use different way of switching the light. As an example a typical lucas alt with inbuilt reg has only 2 wires . One, the thick one goes to the battery. The other goes to the warning light. The other side of the warning light has battery behind it when the ignition is on. The light will glow with the ignition on, as the current through the light flows through the rotor, to ground via the reg to excite it. When the alternator is spinning, the alternator becomes self exciting so the voltage at the warning light (coming from the alternator)wire rises to 12V and the light goes out. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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