Guest Anonymous Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Ok, I can take a joke as well as the next person. But WTF, this is the second alternator in less than a year and this is getting old. I'm using the one wire alternator and wired it per JTR to a wire I believe leading it back to the fuse box (white/red?) Sorry I can't tell for sure, its taped up and I was so pissed I didn't bother unwrapping it. By poking the leads of my Commie fluke replica meter into the alternators output, I get a between 10-11.5 volts. I need to remove the plastic boot to make sure I'm getting a good connection then perhaps it'll read a bit more, but my question is this: How is your alternator wired, can I go right to the battery with the output from the alternator and then just hook the wire I currently have connected to the alternator to the battery as well, this way the charge will go straight to the battery and not through my funky wiring (which someday I'll replace). Is this ok to do, and if so do I need a fusable link or something between the alternator output and the battery? Any help would be appreciated, right now I'm seeing gauges going crazy (same as before when I noticed my speedo stopped working when my alternator died before). The lights will dim, go out and back on, but the car still runs the whole time, although with the lights on if I disconnect the positive cable the rpm's drop off I'm assuming because of less voltage to the HEI. Since this is my driver I'm screwed going anywhere till this is fixed. Any idea's? Currently walking, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Lone, I bought the one wire magnum alt. from Summit for my truck (sorry, not Z specific), and ran a wire directly from it to the batt. +ve. Then the batt. +ve goes to the Starter with the primary (thick) wire. All of the systems then pull their source from the terminal at the starter. Hope this helps some Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Lone, I believe the sensing wire has to be switched, can't be hot all the time or alternator will stay on and drain the battery. You can run charging wire to battery, use a fusable link smaller than the wire (2 sizes I believe). I'm on alternator number 13 yes 13 in 3 years! finally broke down and bought ac delco. Had been using pep boys, it had life time warrenty, it got embarrassing going back. I'm hoping cheap parts are the main reason for failures. I have tried different wiring, wire sizes, filters on the sensing wire, heat shields and a few other things. Most of my failures were of the internal regulator followed by the alternator. The first three or so that failed were traced to a defective starter. It was generating an AC spike that traveled thur the sensing wire and knocked out the regulator, hence the filter. Good luck, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Your back-feeding on the starter reminded me of how an electric fan can do the same thing. It turns into a generator as it freewheels to a stop. This caused some problems with my El Cheapo tach until I went to a better higher quality tach. In the mean time, the 1 wire can take the battery voltage directly, but needs to be switched to keep the alt from draining the battery (ign switch for instance). In fact, I'm using a 3 wire GM unit that is, in essence, hooked to only one wire going to the battery. I switch it off when I'm done driving to prevent battery drain (still using the race car emergency cut-off switch) by opening the battery + lead wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Hmmm, this could be one of my problems. My voltage sensing wire goes right to battery. Ok, what about the wire that is currently going from the alternator output to the fusebox? I can hook that up with its fusable link still attached to the battery yes? Thanks guys, this is helping already, I've dropped the shotgun and will not shoot the alternator with it now... Regards, Lone Ps: Sorry about all the questions but my electrical skills are pathetic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 If this is a GM one wire alternator, the single wire is the sensing/charge wire. With that commie fluke of yours, check to make sure the wire currently being used on the alt is switched (hot only with ign switch "on"). If so, you will need a hefty fusable link in it (just a guess here) that can handle the alt charging current if you should have a weak battery some time (left the lights on accidentally). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Lone, Alt out put can be hooked directly to battery, just use fusable link. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 30, 2001 Share Posted November 30, 2001 Ok, for definition sake, what is a one wire alternator? Mine has the main output terminal, and then two smaller flat spade lugs on the side for voltage sensing and alt light connections. Is this considered a three wire, or do they call it one wire because theres only one major charging connection coming off it? Thanks, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 That's why I prefaced my reply. The 1 wire uses three terminals, but they have a plastic plug over the spades so they are not used, and then there is some kind of VooDoo excitation or something done to the inside to make them work correctly. On the 3 wire ones, you have basically the same terminals, but you use one for voltage sensing, one for the idiot light (required, not just a convenience), and the charging terminal. With the spade cover off, I'm not sure how one would tell for sure if it was originally set up as a 1 wire or a 3 wire. But, as I said, even a 3 wire can be wired so that only one wire leaves the alternator (goes through a switch to turn alt off and not drain battery) to the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 Gotcha, thanks Terry, appreciate that, understood. (takes a while, my bio-processor is like a 8088... and is short on ram... ). Thanks all, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Glenn Parker Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 Lone you have me worried I put a nice 100 amp Alt. in and it had the rubber plug. I pulled the plug off and wired it the way JTR described in their book. Am I in trouble? Everything seems to work well, do think JTR screwed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 I donno, I can't recall if there was a plug on mine or not, I don't remember, I just copped an alternator that looked like JTR's in the back and wired it that way. I'm going to check it this weekend, maybe pull that voltage sensing wire and connect the alternator to the battery and see what I get. If nothing, I'll try with the sensing line hooked to the ign instead of to the battery so it doesn't drain it as they tell me in the post above. Still need to see if the alternator will even put out, the other day it was at 13 volts. *shrug* Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 FWIW, I replaced my shiny chrome 1wire with a $30 unit from NAPA awhile back. The chrome one died, probably from ignition pulses from the coil being grounded into the chassis (ahem). I believe I wired it by simply hooking it up like the one wire (main wire to the whitered HD wire that was stock to the alternator) and then jumpering one of the remaining spaded connections to that wire. I got the instructions from an URL that was posted here int he archives and from looking in th eJTR book. I ignored the warning light stuff and so really have only two wires on my alternator with just one hooking to the harness. Lone if yopu need me to snap a pic or anything I will - just give me the word offline or whatever. As a side note - I found out that using my "kill" switch hooked to ground doesn't kill the car due to feedback from the alternator - guess this is why they specc'ed hot side? I'd appreciate some advice on fixing that problem (relay?) after we get Lone straight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kc6wfs Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 Hi Lone, I did mine as per JTR to the tee and have had no problem as of yet. Only driven it a couple hundred miles or so. I do have mine going to the white/red wire. It's the thicker one. The ALT kicks in when the rpms get up to 1800 then it senses and charges as needed. I still have my amp gauge still hooked up. Hope this helps. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted December 1, 2001 Share Posted December 1, 2001 Even if you have a "1 wire" alternator, you can still wire it up same as a 3 wire. You just can't do it the other way around though. Both types appear to be the same alternator externally. The sensing spade can be tied to the charge terminal as state above, but my understanding about the idiot light was that a small amount of resistance is needed here (i.e bulb filament) to allow it to charge correctly. I was told by two different rebuilders that with no light, it won't charge correctly, and with a solid jumper, it would eventually burn out the regulator. True or not??? Don't know, but I did jumper the sensor spade to the charge terminal, and I also jumpered the idiot light spade to the charge terminal (with an inline bulb). In essence then, I have only one wire going to the battery (via the emerg c/o switch). It starts charging (idiot light goes out and voltmeter goes to 14 vdc) at about 15 mph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ in va Posted May 11, 2005 Share Posted May 11, 2005 If I walk into a parts store to buy a "single wire" alternator, they will want to know what year and model of vehicle it is for ... anybody know a vehicle that was factory equipped with one of these?? Thanks, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Anonomous. I searched and found a web site for you http://www.extreme4wheelin.com/tech/alternators/tech.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdsk8r Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Do you realize that this post was 3 1/2 years ago?... ...'s ok, I do it all the time, also. It's still good info to have, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Well, you see, what had happend was... That HybridZ is sooo Massive that it distorts the space-time relationship. And makes things that happend years ago seem like they happend yesterday. Yeah... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastzcars Posted May 13, 2005 Share Posted May 13, 2005 Cr@p, you guys are right. Man do I feel like an @$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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