knuckless

yeah well my problem is that im in long island right now (im from nj) and i cant wait for the alternator to be shipped here...so im going to auto zone to get a standard replacement so i can drive home and then upgrade to a 100amp 1 wire alternator i found from summit for $75

yeah i think my battery is low because it hasnt had the opportunity to charge with the alternator sucking and i keep running it to dead. im just using one of those jumper battery boxes so that doesn't charge it very well like jumper cables would

how hard is the 1 wire alternator to install? i mean what do i do to convert it from the original wiring to the 1 wire? is it just a simple plug and go?

nba1341

but then it wont charge at idle

knuckless

a 1 wire alternator wont charge at idle?

nba1341

it wont start charging until it reaches a certian rpms and from then on will charge

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...hreewire.shtml




I got this alternator from summit a few months ago and it has run flawlessly

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku


Its the 1G style in the small case so it bolted right in (had to shave the bracket a tiny bit easily done)


the above listed uses your external voltage regulator

67mustang302

That's not true.

The 1 wire alternator uses rpm as a START switch only. When you first turn the engine on the alternator has to reach a certain alt. rpm to switch on, but once on it stays on until it reaches 0rpm(engine is turned off).

My Powermaster 140A for instance when I first turn the car on needs about 1,400engine rpm to switch on with underdrive pullies turning the alt. slower, but once on at an 800rpm idle puts out around 13v, and once the rpm is at around 950 it puts out 14.8v.

The only way the alt. won't charge at idle is if you have UDP's and a low idle speed/high electrical load.

knuckless

well i replaced the alternator and as i expected...nothing changed. still getting less then 12 volts at idle.

checked all my grounds and connections and they are solid

nba1341

does your battery not hold a charge?


do you have good grounds from your alt and battery?

knuckless

yeah im thinking my battery is fried or something. its at 11 volts when the car is off, but it wont start the car at all. i dont think it has enough amps in it to crank. so ill be returning the battery (its got a warranty luckily)

all my grounds are good, tested them all

Starfury

Voltage regulator would've been my first guess.

knuckless

yeah that would have been mine to but i felt pretty confident in the one i have since i just replaced it last month.

i switched out the battery and bang she started right up no problem and plenty of volts at idle. around 13.4 the only problem now is my headlights and instrument lights are pulsating when at high rpms. no pulse at idle. im thinking i may have some slack in the alternator belt or a faulty headlight switch?