Alternator Wiring Questions

I'm not aware of any problem they had but that doesn't mean anything. I do know they used it for quite a few years though...not just two or three. I worked in an alternator/starter shop from 75-87. I rebuilt lots of them but never got into the wiring part that much.

 

Well i got it all hooked up per that wiring diagram, but it doesn't seem to be charging the battery for some reason. I hooked up the volt meter while the car was running, and the volts are not climbing at all.
Any ideas?

 

Unplug it at the regulator. Make sure the Bat wire has 12 volts on it and make sure the Ign wire has 12 volts when the key is turned on. If yes on both, take a small jumper wire (3-4" long) and jump the Bat plug to the Field plug of your harness while the engine is running. If you don't have the plug that fits the regulator (you may have individual wires going to the reg) Watch the volt meter and it should start climbing. It will go past 14 volts if you let it run long enough but that's not necessary. You just wanna see if the alt is charging. If it does start charging you may very well have a bad reg. Just gotta make sure the B&I wires are hot as needed.

 

The problem is that the wiring on the older cars isn't big enough for the 130 amp alternators. The wire from the alternator to the battery (starter solenoid) has to be the same size as the positive battery cable. And you have to remove any ammeter that you have or it will burn up.