Painless Harness, 280Z/ZX AC Delco alternator

[rupertjab89]

Hey everyone,

 

I recently finished up my painless wiring install - 2 years in the making - what a PAIN.

 

Directions are written solely for american cars, my old '71 240Z used a lot of ground switches which painless didn't know about or mention - no biggie, i got most of it figured out.

 

most...

 

I installed a 280Z or ZX alternator into my 260Z engine in my 240Z chassis ... still with me?

 

The alternator is an AC DELCO rebuilt. It has the following terminals:

 

Stator

Sense (+)

Lamp

Battery

Earth

 

Earth goes to ground, battery gets hooked up to the fuse block wire provided with the general harness.

 

Where does the exciter wire go and where does the 'jumper' wire go that painless talks about - or is this a one wire alternator? How do you tell?

I called painless - they said jump stator to battery post, exciter wire to sense (+). I did this, and my battery was actually back feeding my stator - lots of heat in that wire!!

 

I disconnected, battery started charging up wonderfully.

 

Anyone work with this combination before? I'm going to call painless back later tonight and see what they say...

[rupertjab89]

alright here's what happened:

 

I called painless, I got the reply "we don't do foreign cars" and "we don't build alternators, I don't know how to hook it up, ask the people that sold you the alternator" - hmmmmm

 

So I did some more digging - here's the awesome website I found - haven't tried it yet, but plan to try it and let you know. The uniqueness of my situation vs. his is that in my situation I do not have a stock wiring harness, he did.

 

Wish me luck!

 

http://www.datsunzgarage.com/engine/

[Dan_Austin]

Not sure what the Painless jumper wire is, but it is not uncommon to

connect the Sense pin to the battery lug.  As for the exciter, that would

likely go to the lamp pin.  Do you have a photo of the alternator connections?

I don't think you should connect anything to the stator lug (assuming it is a lug)

[rupertjab89]

yea, the jumper wire isn't supplied, and they say to wire it from "pin one to the battery lug" - well my pins aren't numbered, thanks painless.

 

The photo i have is best found on the rock auto website. - http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1001533&cc=1209260

 

But yea, you've confirmed what the website kind of talked about - nothing connects to the stator. And I confirmed it by trying to connect things to it only to realize that the wires get really hot.... oops! hopefully i didn't ruin anything...

 

So, I will give the lamp pin to the exciter a try and the sense to the battery lug a try.

 

I found on another site that if you want really good power to your batter to run the (what would be the sense pin) straight to the battery instead of the post - apparently it accomodates for a voltage drop in wires? not sure i fully believe it, but i'm up for trying it.

 

i'll get after it next week and let you know how it all goes. Thanks for the help!

[NewZed]

Don't forget the diode.  240Z's can backfeed through the Lamp wire and keep the engine running when the key is turned off.

 

This web site gives a fair description of the situation with the 240Z and 260Z's and how to fix it.  Search it for the word "diode".  http://www.zcarcreations.com/howto/voltreg.htm

 

 

Edit - actually, with the Painless harness it probably doesn't matter.  I think that problem with the 240Z and 260Z is that the wire used for L in the conversion is also T'ed in to the coil power.  Painless most likely considered that.  You'll know when you try it.

Edited October 30, 2014 by NewZed