okay folks, i finally got my alternator out of my car and bought a new one. trouble is, i took the wires off of the alternator an entire year ago before i went off to school. so the quandry is that i have no real clue as to where they all go. if anyone has a pick of their stock alternator with the wires on it, that would be awsome. i think i have it wired right, and my battery is the culprit. which sucks and is my fault. it's only 1 yr. old with maybe 100 miles on it, i sat it on the ground last summer and left it until now. i may have ruined my new battery. thanks in advance for any help.
I have a scanned image from the '77 manual. The wires appear to be the same as on your '76. http://www.maverickcomet.com/defaul...1&LOC=/Wiring/Wiring.asp&FR=3&BD=1&Offset=360 This may not be a recommended procedure, but... I also had a battery that I left hooked up for almost a year, and I thought was toast. I put a charger on both 2 and 10 amp settings and after an hour nothing. So I hit it with the jump start and after a few minutes the gauge showed it was charging, so I put it down to 10 amp and it worked. That was two months ago and the battery is working fine.
Sitting a battery on the ground will not hurt a battery. Years age when batteries case were made of tar/rubber it would...but today batteries case are made of plastic for the last 30 years or better
http://www.yuasabatteries.com/faqs.asp?action=1&id=20 http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1999/November/06.html
Two things can happen when you put a battery on the ground that will affect it's state of charge or its ability to produce power: 1. Dirt and grime on the outside of the case can be a conductor that will eventually drain the battery. (don't believe it? put your volt meter on the + post and the case and read the voltage. If it was not a conductor it would read zero - but it rarely does) 2. in cold weather, direct contact with the ground can chill the battery so that it has to warm up to provide the chemical reaction that produces high current rates. If you live in climates where a battery heater is used you know what I am talking about. Put you battery on the frozen groung for even a short time and you have to warm it up before it will crank the starter. The ground will not drain a clean, well maintained battery. It is still a good idea to put the battery on an insulator to keep it from getting cold.
well, i thought i had it. the battery is fine. i think now that i have one wire out of place. i'll know by the end of the day. i had it running for one whole day and it decided it didnt want to start again. when i jumped it and had it running the alternator dummy light was on. off the topic, but does anyone know where i can get a cover for the interior light, i tapped mine with my finger yesterday and put a whole in it
okay, i think i have it this time. i had a wire missplaced. i changed the wire i suspected of being wrong jumped it (since i ran on all battery for a whole day before) then i took off down the road to watch for the dummy light. it didnt come on, then when i got'er back home i shut it off, then started it right back up with no problem.
well, it's my fault for not paying attention when i took the wires off in the first place. im just glad i got it figured out.
