Is my alt charging?

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Old 08-09-2008, 03:06 PM
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Is my alt charging?

I'm pretty sure the alt on my car isn't charging, but it's a long story so grab some popcorn!

Ok! I picked my fury up last Oct, tinkered with it over the winter and replaced the wiring harness with a painless kit because some rodant had goten into the wiring behind the dash and the engine bay wiring was a rats nest. Since the painless kit supported the newer squareback alt with 2 FLD terminals I brought a new one up from NAPA, made by Wilsons in Canada. The original was also a wilson but a round back with only 1 FLD post!

My car was at a shop for the past two weeks getting the engine looked at and some brake and front end work done, they mentioned that the alt was not charging the Batt. Trying to save a few bucks i said I'd look at that when i got it home as I thought I had wired the harness wrong. The car starts, and runs fine, but the batt wore down fast, the batt is also new! A 1050 CCA one.

Tonight I was trying to figure out what I'd done wrong, had a tech from painless on the phone, the harness appears to be hooked up right so i ran an AMP Meter from the Batt terminal on the Alt to the Pos terminal on the Batt and got nothing, Zero pos or neg amp flow! So I figured the Amp Meter might be broken so I tried it on my Jeep but it works fine!

So before I fork out some more money on a new Alt is there anything else i can try? What would it take to wire in the old round back 1 FLD post Alt I took of the car?

I Had the alt checked at Parts-source AND NAPA this morning it is fine, but the guy at NAPA changed it for a new one just to be sure, he is a friend of mine, he also tested that unit before I left the store, and I Brought a new voltage regulator while I was there also.

With the new alt and new Regulator I'm getting the same results. 12.1V at the batt with the engine off, 12.2V with the car at idle, 12.2V with the car at 1500rpm, 11.5V with the car at idle and the high beams on! I get the same reading at the Alt (batt terminal). I've even run a jumper from the Alt Batt terminal to the pos batt post and the readings are the same.

With the engine running you can unhook the voltage regulator and it will not effect the car, the car will continue to run, you can unhook ALL the wires on the ALT and the car will continue to run, but if you un-hook either of the battery leads the car dies!

I think I should be getting 13 to 14 volts at the battery with the car running, and I'm at a loss to figure out whats going on! This thing should be charging or at least reading above the 12V mark while running!
Old 08-10-2008, 07:37 AM
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Mechanical! Double checked that the correct wires go to the FLD and ING terminals.
Old 08-10-2008, 05:15 PM
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I think i would make sure that the regulator is grounded to the firewall , you might have to remove a bit of paint but you need it to be grounded and what year is your car ??????? does it have a field-load relay if so disconnect voltage regulator connector and turn ignition switch ON-- using a voltmeter check for battery voltage at terminals ofr disconnected connector <<>> If battery voltage is present the field load relay ok if no battery voltage is seen at the terminals then check circuit wiring and connections and if they are all in the right place then i would replace the field-load relay <<<>>> but CHECK ground first as that is usually 99% of the problems
Old 08-10-2008, 05:18 PM
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P.S you will have a ballast resistor if you don't have the field-load relay
Old 08-10-2008, 06:23 PM
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Was a bad regulator! Just because something is new dosn't mean it works!
Old 08-10-2008, 06:54 PM
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Kewl at least you got her going
Old 08-10-2008, 08:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Doc
GOOD to hear it is quickly solved 64 . You have had some electrical GREMLINS giving you probs - as of late.
You can say that again, but i think the electric are sorted out, now I can concentrate on the shifter! Sometimes owning a pre 66' car can be a little taxing!
Old 08-10-2008, 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Doc
So what are the shifter issues ?
I had a thread going a while back, but the electrics distracted me!

https://moparforums.com/forums/f10/7...ble-help-1183/

I've been underneath and the 'rooster comb' meshes up with the 'dents' it's as if the cable was either too short or pivoting on the shifter at the wrong point, I'm going to dig deeper now that the electric are some what in-line!
Old 10-17-2011, 07:26 PM
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if your alternator is not charging it could be a bad voltage regulator or you can check the battery voltage with the engine running. It should be read 13.5 volts to 16 volts. If it is below 13.5 volts, the alternator is faulty.





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Old 10-17-2011, 10:47 PM
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Originally Posted by ddunk80
if your alternator is not charging it could be a bad voltage regulator or you can check the battery voltage with the engine running. It should be read 13.5 volts to 16 volts. If it is below 13.5 volts, the alternator is faulty.

16 volts is way way WAY to high. Your target voltage is 13.8-14.2

Anything above about 12.5 means it's charging "some" but anything above about 15 means it's overcharging, except for some special batteries.

Overcharging is often caused by a bad ground on the regulator, as well as a voltage drop in the ignition harness circuit to the regulator.





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