I'm trying to determine whether my generator or voltage regulator is the cause of my charging issues. Is there a way to test and or bypass the voltage regulator, to try and rule that out? Thanks for any and all help!
run a jumper wire from the positive terminal on the alternator to the field on the alternator . just temporarily though ive heard this is bad for it if left for too long but im not 100 percent sure.
This car has a generator not an alternator. Find an old repair manual. I have one and wil try to find it later today
Pull the two leads off the generator.Battery power to the "A"rmature post on the gen,then ground the "F"ield terminal to full field.On a generator you should give it a fast idle to see voltage go up.:TU:
oh shoot my bad. ive never actually worked on a car with a generator.. lol i feel like a little kid sometimes.
I'm finally getting around to troubleshooting this thing. Forgive my ignorance Jamie, just want to make sure I understand what to do. I need to remove the leads from the generator, ground the field terminal, and run a jumper from the armature post to the + battery terminal, correct? Does it matter what gauge the jumpers are?
Yes,start the car & hook up the A terminal to the battery positive...it will spark,dont freak out.:shock: Then ground the F terminal(i use a screwdriver bridging from term to gen case).A good size jumper,enough to handle 30amps or so.Dont run it too long,10-15 seconds is enough,you should hear it lug the motor a bit if it's charging.
Ended up just replacing the regulator. Hooked it up, followed instructions about setting up the polarity, fired her up, and nothing. Ran her up to over 2k rpms and my volt gauge didn't move a bit. Figured it was the generator, and looks like my suspicions are correct. Alternator conversion here I come!
