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Hello all, long time, no see. Which is good since I typically only come here when something is bad... anyway I've got this problem, see? Started a bit ago, a little trouble getting the car to start. Classic *click* when I'd turn the key. Checked wiring on my starter, since one has come off in the past leading to this problem... not this time. I rock the car a little in desperation (I'm on a dirt road, quite far from civilization at this point) and somehow it starts up. Whew, I think. I get home. Try turning it on again? Click. all wires connected. OK, must be the battery. I get a jump from a neighbor, run it for a while and I turn on the lights to see how it's going. This kills it. Well. Not going to bug the neighbor again, wait for my girl to come home. Jump it, run over to the neighborhood Napa. Guy comes out to test the battery and alternator. He says battery is bad, alternator is good. I had to jump it to get this tested. Jump again to drive over to AutoZone because I still have the battery under warranty until March (Bought it just shy of two years ago). Guy verifies battery is no good, I replace it, but not before brushing the cables free of any possible corrosion. Car won't start. I jump it to go home because I don't know what else to do, and I need to get to work asap anyway at this point, so now I'm borrowing my girl's car for work. Thanks babe! But still not sure about this car. I have a multimeter that I am a little familiar with, use it to test the ground, and it's good. I jump it again and decide to just run it a bit to see if the battery was just dead from the store (it had almost no charge at this point). I run for a little bit and LO! There's smoke coming out of the dash vents on the driver's side! Electrical smell. Great. I'm about to pull the dash apart, which I've never done before and am not looking forward to because my best guess is a short somewhere in there. It's not a well-educated guess. Any ideas? Car info: '73 240z with l28 and upgraded windshield wiper motor ('94 Accord, I believe) and upgraded MSA fuse box, both of which were done over two years ago. no radio, no A/C, no heat connected (core just sitting there) and none of that has been changed/touched in years.

Sooo, I thought of doing a small write up after I did this today, so this will not be my best write up... Pictures will suffer, but I tried to pull all the information together. I have added some generic pictures, and how to re-wire your car to use an internally regulated alternator. (not my instruction on how to rewire) First things first... WHY do I need to upgrade?! Well, if you're like me, I now two fuel pumps, two electric cooling fans, blah blah blah... When my car was at idle, I could hear the pumps complaining, and if my fans came on, forget about it. Was it a grounding issue? No, my car has a full painless rewire, and I have more grounds then girls you stalk on instagram. My initial upgrade was to an 84 maxima alternator. While this put out 60 amps, it definitely did not put out enough amps at idle. I am not sure if this lead to the death of 3 Odyessy batteries, but I will soon find out. On to what you came here for. My first want here was bolt in, as in no cutting, making a brackets. (I have power steering and didn't want to undo a bunch of stuff) This ruled out the GM alternators, as you have to cut up the stock bracket. I spent a few hours on rock auto searching for all the combinations, amp, ear locations and have come up with the below. 1994 SOHC Nissan Maxima GXE Alternator (i believe this starts in 1991 up to 1995) 1990-1995 Nissan Pathfinder Pulley OR 1990-1995 Nissan D21 Pick up Pulley (I ordered a 1992 pathfinder pulley and i know this works) The Maxima Alternator puts out 90 amps, but at idle put out 58 amps! I looked at the Nissan Quest, and while it puts out 110 amps, it only put out 41 amps. So the clear winner for me here was the Maxima. Plus, it would take no fabrication to "bolt in". (the idle amps may vary, but this is what i found after buying a whole heap of alternators at once) The Pulley: almost all the higher amp alternators use a ribbed belt, vs a V-belt. After much searching, the best combination was to find, purchase, junk yard the v-belt pulley from a Pathfinder and put that on the 90 amp Maxima alternator.I used an impact to swap the pulleys with a little red loc-tite. The Wiring: I didn't need to do this due to my Painless harness install, but if you are still stock read the following site! Or search how to swap to a later Datsun alternator for more details on going from an external regulated alternator. (if this applies to you) Alternator rewire - click me There is now a plug for the Light/Sensing wire. Below is the diagram of the pins for that plug. You can either buy this connector/plug online for a few bucks or use spade connectors. I had bought the plug, and misplaced it, so I used blue female spade connectors. The adjustment bracket: I had already bought one of these adjustable guys yearrsss ago, so it worked well with this. You may be able to use the stock one with slight bending or buy/make one of these adjustable guys. I believe the guys over on Ratsun have a how-to on how to make these, or I could just be mixing that up with another site. Otherwise, just buy one them... As always with electrical work, ensure you unplug your battery, etc. I take no liability for you setting everything around you on fire, etc. When upgrading anything electrical, be sure all wire upstream are in good shape. I cannot stress this enough; higher amps is not going to fix an electrical system with hacked up wiring, bad grounds, etc. Be sure everything electrical is in good shape before doing this!

I have a 1975 280z and recently bought an alternator for a 280zx. I went to install it and realized that the wiring and plugs to the alternator were different from what I was expecting. This is the alternator that was in the car at the time of purchase: This is the alternator uninstalled: The new alternator has a T plug, which is what I believe should have originally been there: This the plug that's in the car now: anyone have any idea why the plug might have been changed? And how hard it might be to return things to stock? I found this on eBay: But can I just use that to convert back to a T plug even though it's been rewired? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi guys, I'm about to finish my Lt1 swap on a 75'z, I'm using a CS PLFS type alternator, I connected it to the L terminal going trough the charge light (like in the picture), but when I turned the switch to on the charge light went on and out at almost the same time, then never turn on again and the Alt is not charging... Could be that the resistance of the charging light is too low and needs another resistor? Do you think I burned the regulator or something else? Thank you.

Just got my LS6 up and running using MS3Pro and the DIYAutoTune drop on LSx 24 harness. From the harness, there is 1 wire that goes to the alternator to activate a low charging light. That's the only wire on the plug. The alternator I got reman from RockAuto (98-02 Camaro) was tested fine at AutoZone. The alternator will not charge. I have the hot lug run back to a fuse block where all the large gauge wires centralize from the battery. I tried running a wire from the 'sense' pin on the alternator back to the fuse block so the system has 'reference' voltage, but that didn't work either. The 4 pins on my alternator plug are 1) Phase, 2) Indicator lamp, 3) Ignition, and 4) Sense. The DIY harness was rigged to the Indicator lamp, and as stated, I tried running a Sense wire to my fuse block. I am currently researching, but not coming up with much. I am not quite sure what I'm missing here. Anybody have any ideas?

Hello, I am new to this forum. So far, I have found the search function doesn't work as well as some other forums I am on. So if this topic has been beaten to death I apologize, but I did look (both on here and through google). As many posts here have acknowledged, the stock alternators on the S30 leave much to be desired (particularly at idle). I found sites discussing swapping to smaller diameter pulleys, but only in a generic sense. Therefore, I don't know what the alternator on a 1975 280z can handle ...or if it would even help. Has anyone tried putting a smaller pulley in to increase the idle alternator RPM? What are your thoughts and what size might you suggest? Obviously, it will wear faster and I don't want to over spin it. On the note of wear, what do you think of swapping for a clutched pulley while I am at it? If no one answers, I will just try swapping in a internally regulated 70-Amp alternator from a 1986 300zx.

Looking for an alternator from a 280zx or 280zxt. Shipping to 94553 Mike Turbodatsun280z@gmail.com

Hi all, In progress of building out an LS1 for my 240z. Currently: LS9 Cam + LS2 front cover + holley carb + intake Using JCI mounts for the swap. (yet to arrive) Electric water pump and no other accessories. Has anyone mounted an alternator low passenger side? If not, anyone run a mini alternator as the only accessory on the driver side? What mount & alternator did you use? Here is my current setup - I fear the alternator sticks out too far: Threads I've already looked into: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/72741-whats-wrong-with-this-bracket/ http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/49579-mini-alternator-with-6-rib-pulley/?hl=alternator

Hi everyone, I've been getting some advice in the build thread I've got going but figured this would be the better place to chase after the issues I'm having since it's more technical and a better setting to get pointers of what to look for. So the background: 1976 280z with an 11/75 build date if it matters. Effectively stock, save for a few minor things and an L28ET. A couple issues that are electrical-related: 1) The system does not seem to be charging. Charge light was off with the car running. I ran the engine for a bit and noticed the fuel pump kept getting louder and the engine running rougher so I turned it off and found that the battery read ~11.3 volts. Checked the wiring at the alternator and it checked out so I started the car again and tested voltage at the battery and the alternator positive post. Both read ~11.3 volts. Had the alternator and battery both tested at O'reilly on their machine and it said it checks out, though I know that isn't a final judgement on whether or not an alternator is really working properly or not. By that point I had assumed it was the voltage regulator. Replacements aren't easy to get and they're either expensive or the shipping costs more than the unit. By the time that would all be said and done I figured I would be better off buying an internally regulated 280zx alternator. The alternator is a reman. unit from O'reilly that was on the old engine before without issue. Is there something else I could be missing here? I got a longer bolt/screw for the "E"/ground post of the alternator since the old one couldn't hold the wire and the capacitor at the same time. Is there some chance that the one I used isn't allowing the alternator to get a proper ground? I've also read things about how if the battery isn't charged enough the alternator won't charge, but I doubt that was the case since it seemed that the battery was at good voltage but gradually draining. I'm tempted to pull the trigger on a new internally regulated alternator and throw it in, but I would rather have someone point out what I can't seem to see is wrong before I spend the money on it. 2) The tachometer and oil/water gauge are not working. I know I have oil pressure as I verified that before starting the engine. The sending unit is new and I know it's getting oil. The stock tachometer coil signal wire is hooked up and I verified it at the resistor under the passenger side of the dash. Also verified continuity and resistance in the resistor. As far as I can tell, the gauges are getting the signal, they just aren't being powered. The lights do come on but after reviewing the wiring diagram those seem to be on a separate circuit anyway. According to another forum member, the 4th fuse down on the left side of the fuse panel provides voltage to the gauges. The fuse is fine and has continuity, though I don't get voltage on either side of the fuse. After checking where the fuse gets power from, it seems to be hooked into switched voltage from a black and white wire that is spliced in at multiple points throughout the car. Here's where it gets interesting, though. The fuse that provides power to the voltage/fuel gauge also appears to be fed by that wire, and I know my voltage/fuel gauge is working. I feel like I'm going crazy trying to track down the cause of the issue since every lead (no pun intended) I find ends up in me thinking that it should be working fine. Any advice is appreciated as always. Like I always say, HybridZ is the place I turn to when all my efforts seem to be getting me nowhere. - Pac Man

Car is no longer charging. Can anyone tell me what the role of the Black/Yellow wire is, going to the voltage regulator on a 260z? According to the factory wiring diagram it goes straight to the interlock relay. Is it supplying voltage TO the relay or is it receiving voltage FROM it? For context, here's the issue I'm having: I get 0v at the WB and Y connectors (these run to the F and N terminals on the alternator) There is 12v on the W wire at the regulator. The B wire is showing a strong ground. The BW wire runs inside the passenger compartment and becomes the green wires on the Tach, Amp/Fuel, and Temp/Oil gauges The BY wire connects to the interlock relay. Still trying to wrap my head around those last 2 bullet points. I have to admit, i don't understand why those any gauge besides the ammeter needs to be connected to the voltage regulator. Not sure if this is significant or not, but the BY wire reads .059 volts when the ignition switch is on. I am tempted to jump 12v to this wire, to see what happens, but i'm afraid of hurting the regulator, if it is isn't defective. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hey Everyone, My heater blower/defrost switch is working sporadically, and with no rhyme or reason that I can tell. They will work and I can have the car parked, turn it off then immediately on again and then they won't work. Only thought I have is they aren't getting enough power. I think this cuz I've seen the defrost switch light almost go out, but a quick rev brings it back up again. Maybe change the a alternator? Any thoughts? Thanks 71, 240z

Hello all, I have searched low and high to no avail. I am upgrading to a 280zx alternator in my 75 280. I was following the diagram below and carried out with the white to yellow but had noticed that my volage regulator did not have the specified green and red. It appears that the pin hole of the voltage regulator for the G/R was capped from the factory. So I am hoping that there are some guys here that have figured something out for the 75s that could help me finish this up? Thank you in advance... Connect 1-5 (lamp to windings common) green&red to white&black Connect 2-3 (+12V to Sense) white to yellow

So here's my delima, I have a 75 280z with a bad alternator, I want to slightly step up to the 85 300zx alternator (already shipped) because I don't physically have it yet I do not know what the new plug style will be and our junk yard only has an 88 300zx, now according the nissan parts website the 85 alternator partnumber is the same 83-86, so i'm just wondering if anyone knows if the plugs are the same so I can snach the 88's

Hi all, I know the alternator swap has been talked about and documented a lot here and on other forums, but I'm having a hard time finding specific info for: I have a vintage/historic 240z which I've rewired, completely tore out the old wiring harnesses. I'd like to put in a one-wire alternator, using the same bracket. When I called Motorsport Auto about the 60-Amp Alternator Upgrade Kit, 70-73 240Z http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/spring03a/12-4068 They said that was for the standard harness, not a one-wire set up. So, does anyone know if I can use that as a one-wire set up. Or, is there a Bosch/GM/whatever one-wire alternator I can get that will bolt right in using the current brackets? thanks Bill Oakes