Charging sytem: Not charging, Alternator, Battery, Starter fine

[dave280zx]

1979 280zx:

 

Last week, my voltage regulator on my old alternator went out and sent 18V+ through my system. I caught it within a minute or so, and turned everything on full blast to deal with the voltage long enough to get me home. It blew some of the fuses for my lights, but other than that I couldnt find anything.

 

I bought a new alternator and installed it last Saturday. I drove for about 30 miles before I realized the alternator wasn't charging the battery.

 

I brought it home, and did all the checks, took everything off in turn and took it to Kragen, finally taking the whole car. I had them do the in car check. They told me the "alternator isn't making a charge" and that "the field wire sends a signal to the alternator to make a charge" and that somehow that wasn't happening. After having it checked, I searched the threads here and followed the advice. I went through all the wires (Except for the blue on the SL connector; I coulnd't find the end of it) to make sure they were not shorted, then went through my fusible links to make sure those were fine. Then I cleaned all connections and the ground wires.

 

The indicator light for the alternator (near the voltage regulator) is not coming on,(Possibly blown by the voltage surge? Or something else) And the voltage regulator only shows the voltage that is in the battery, which slowly drains as the car runs. Therefore, the alternator is not producing a charge, or the charge is not reaching the system... Right?

 

Knowing me, I might have installed the alternator improperly, so here is a picture of the alternator. The post on the left is labeled "E" in the casing, and the post on the right is labeled "BAT", so I hooked the black ground to the "E" terminal, and the White to the "BAT." Is this right? Does anybody have an idea as to what to do? I dont wanna spend the $$ taking it to a shop, its the only car that has heat, and the little lady refuses to ride in anything else.

 

[dave280zx]

Sorry bout that... Here it is:

[Xander]

fix your alternator charge light. that should help. 12 volt is aplied to the light and the negative side is routed to the alternator. the small current going through the light/alternator is what switches the alternator on. usually though the alternator will switch on by itself when you ref it above a certain rpm.

 

Is the new alternator self regulating? if so you might want to take a look at this site:

 

http://www.zcarcreations.com/howto/voltreg.htm

[TravRMK]

Also could be a bad new alternator. I have got a couple of new ones, that were DOA before.

[woldson]

I went through 4 shucks new (rebuilt) before I got one that lasted more than a month! Garanteed for life, but got tired of changing it!!!!

[GLSHLE]

I'd check the posts were the fusable link clips on with a volt meter, I've had trouble with the power not going thru the connection

[dave280zx]

Actually, Xander was right. I checked everything but that alternator warning light, and it was the problem. Luckily I have 3 manuals for this thing; only one told me how to fix the light...

 

Now she puts out a healthy 14 volts, and everything works fine.

 

Thanks for your input!