And so my saga continues. I had found that somewhere in the wire loom the #10 red wire that went from the horn relay block and fed the alternator was bad somewhere along the line and I ran a new #10 to the alternator and even changed the 2 wire plug that goes in the rear. Tha AMP light is always on. My old alternator is only a few monthe old and has about 75 miles on it. It's a Powermaster and found out a couple of weeks ago it was not charging the battery as the battery voltage is always around 12.6V. I just tried a Wells voltgage regulator and the same story, I put back the old regulator and it's the same. I got my hands on a rebuilt alternator today, put it in and it started to smoke and squel. Belt had good tension, all connections good, nothing out of the ordinary in looks. I want to put the Powermaster in again as at least it did not burn up and the new one could just have been a defective rebuild. But I am at square one as to why no charge. All lights work, etc. no fuses blow. Anyhelp would be great before I take it to a shop. Thanks, Slim
No amp light on with key only. Dim in acc mode and bright in start/run mode. The charging system is stock just added the Wells solid state regulator and the 65A Powermaster alternator. Even with the old but regulator no chargea at all!
Check the voltages on the alternator connector with the key off, and on, but with the alternator dicconnected, and get back to me. This system is fairly easy to troubleshoot, but I will need some info before proceeding. Let me know...
With the key on it measures 12.60V and key off it's 12.71. Battery is at 12.76V. I really appreciate your halp as well as all others. Car may not run but it sure looks good sittin' there!
Slimtonone88 I had a similar problem with my 70, I couldn't get the light to go out. I replaced the alternator and the regulator, but still had the problem. So the next step was the wiring harness. To make a long story short, I had removed the dash assembly when it was repainted. When re-installing the gauges and pushing the connector on to the back of the gauge one of the pins pushed the wire connector out of the main connector. The wire was one of two that are used to light the gen light, pushed the connector back like it should have been and presto no light and everything was back to normal:grin: Hope this helps Rick
Thanks and I can check that out. I really know the car is not charging. I went out a couple weeks ago in the evening and after awhile the lights grew dim, turn indicators sluggish, etc. Barely made it home, turned the car off and sometime later tried starting and it was stone cold dead. Big cruise night tonight and I am stuck here.
I would just go to the single wire alternator. this unit only has one wire going to it and has it's own voltage regulator built in. I remove the noisy out dated charging system when I first got my GS. AL
More info..... Just put the Powermaster back in and although the AMP light is still on at least it did not burn up. I measured 12.5V at the alternator while running, lights on, reving engine. So much fr "Premium" rebuilt parts but still no charging.
Single wire Alternator Here is a picture of the unit. I left the voltage regulator on the firewall for looks, AL
Nice engine setup! I like the idea of the single wire but what if I go to it and still the AMP light stays on? I guess I am a little gun shy right now and need to find out if anything else is causing the non-charging condition. Measured amps with the key in start position from negative post to disconnected negative cable and it reads like 0.12ma. I think I am doing this right.
Single wire Alternator I thinks that is the only draw back to the system. This system by passes the "gen" light. So if you are conserned with charge rate you would need to install a voltmeter. I like mine because its simple and quiet. The only other draw back is it has a very very small milli amp draw when engine is off. So if the car is to sit for very long time (over the winter) its a go idea to unhook the battery. AL
Slimtonone88 in order for the light to go out when the engine is running the two wires that feed the light must have the same voltage. If the light is still on when the engine is running then you have either an open in one or the field coil in the reg is bad. Once again in order for the light to go out you have to have voltage on both. Right now I can't remember which wire comes from where. I look it up again. Rick
Rick, Thanks for the tip, I have tried two regulators, one is a Wells VR715 and the other a stock type and the light condition is the same. Is this light condition soley due to either an open or incorrect voltages on them or due to the voltage being generated to the battery not high enough? I will get out my manual and trace the path of the two wires to the AMP light.
Slimtonone88 Ok now lets see if I can do this with out confusing the both of us. On your regulator with the engine running with a volt meter on terminal "2" check the voltage if the reading is above 5volts the field relay is bad in your regualtor if it is below that than it is okay. Since you have replaced it twice its probably ok. This where I started pulling out my hair. Mine showed OK this is after 1 alternator and 2 regulators. At this point check at the "F" Terminal if the voltage is below 5 volts check the wire from the generator plug (2 wire plug) for possible open or high resistance. If it is above 5volts problem is at the generator. Now with this knowledge and previous info I am betting that you have an open somewhere in your harnes between your generator and regulator. Now in my situation that I had my open happened to be right at the guages. There are 2 wires that need to have 12volts at the gauge one in brown ( that one comes from the regulator) and I think pink. If the car is running and your light is on then one does not have power. Pink is fused for the gauges and brown comes from the regulator. My problem was the brown wire was pushed out of the connector on the back of the guage. I took a test light and checked at the back of the gauge and found it. Of course not before a alternator and 2 regs. One more place to check is your fusible links at the starter. Hope this wasn't to confusing. Good Luck Rick
Rick, I will do the voltage check today. I did a test of the regulator using my meter on ohms and the F and 2 that go to the alternator plug are good, no resistance shown. The 3 wire is fine and gets 12V, The brown wire is it, I disconnected it an no amp light as it goes to the light in the dash and to the fuse box. The car is a 64'Riviera and I do not think it has fusable links. The wire that splits from the brown and goes to the fuse box is a brown with white stripe. The only pink wire is from the ignition terminal of the ignition switch to the coil.
Rick, Did the voltage tests. Enging running, F=11.72V, #2 1V, #4 Brown 6.71V #3 Red 12.75V. What do you think?
Slimtanone88 Man you are making me think. My info is coming from my 70 Buick manual, I have a 66 manual so I will have to dig that one out and do some research there. Is the light on with the key on? Is it brite or dim? When its running is brite or dim? According to the book if "F" is above 5volts and "R" terminal at the alternator is low then the trouble points to the alternator not working proper. The "R" terminal on the alternator runs back to "2" on the reg. Another thing is to make sure you have good grds. Well its off for more research, there has to be some alternator/reg gurus out here on the board. Rick
I double checked the voltages: With car on F=11.57 2=0.01 3=12.18 AND 4=6.67 The only two wires that go to the instrument panel that control the AMP light are regulator #4 and a Pink wire that goes to the ignition switch terminal. This Pink wire reads 11.7V and someone said that if Brown #4 and Pink read different the light will stay on but what is a solution. Would a defective Alternator cause this as well as the low voltage reading on #2? If #2 Brown was shorted it would read 0 not half the voltage it is or am I wrong? I will pull the alternator and take it to a real shop in the morning as now I am just spinning wheels.
Slim I think you are on the right track, the pink would have normal voltage of 12 volts and the brown not having that voltage would cause the light to be on and it is dim I assume. The brown come from the alternator through the regulator. According to the book it points towards the alternator being at fault. The #10 wire that you replaced was it shorted to ground at some point? If that happened you may have caused some damage to your alternator, and now you have no output. Have it checked out tomorrow. Good Luck. Rick
