Wiring an Internal Regulator Alternator

5612 Views 22 Replies 5 Participants Last post by sudolg, Jun 19, 2005

sudolg

Discussion Starter · Jun 15, 2005

I need to wire an internal regulated alternator on my 70. Please keep in mind that I do not have an external regulator in my car. This is long gone. What I am looking for is a way to make the light on the dash work (I'll have to run a wire to the idiot light because there is no wire under the hood for this). I'd like to do this the right way and don't know where to begin. I've only seen directions with how to modify the external regulator which again I don't have. Thanks for your help.

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

John_Muha

· #2 · Jun 16, 2005

So someone removed the wires going to the old voltage regulator?? Or did they just cut off the connector?

1Fast7D

· #3 · Jun 16, 2005

Like John said, someone may have cut off the connector but the wires might still be there. From your last post is the idiot light still on with the car running? If so the wire is going to ground somewhere. First closely look at the bulkhead connector on the firewall where all the wires enter the engine compartment. You should see 2 groups of wires. The group closest to the drivers side fender has the wire you are looking for. When you see the 12g red wire ( the biggest wire in this group) the wire you are looking for should be diagonally to it. If all the wires "look" like they are all there we can assume someone cut the wire you are looking for and it is hidden inside the harness. Starting at the radiator support on the drivers side remove some wires in the harness, the wire you are looking for is a 16g brown wire. You will also find a 20g brown ( for the parking lamps) and a 16g tan (for the headlights). Once you find it, post back as the idiot should be out before wiring it to the alternator. It should have 12 volts with the key on and zero volts with the key off. This 16g brown wire it has to go to the "1" small terminal on the alternator. Heres a pic, the connector is aftermarket.

For the "2" terminal on the alternator, just add a wire going to the horn relay buss bar or the battery. If you want a connector for the alternator, Autozone sells them.

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sudolg

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 16, 2005

I could not find any wires near the radiator support where the voltage regulator would have been. The VR is long gone. The wiring truly has been a mess on this car by the previous owner. Someday we'll start from scratch. Here is what I did and correct me if I'm off here. I bought a 60 Amp Internal regulator alternator. I did buy the connector at Autozone. (I could not believe they had it!) I ran the red wire to the male connector on my fuse box under the dash. It is labled, ignition. This gives it power when I start the car and energizes the regulator. Perhaps I could run this wire somewhere else under the hood which would be more convenient? The white wire I spliced in under the dash to the brown wire going to the "GEN" light. So now, when I turn the car to accessory, the "GEN" light comes on. When I start the car, it goes off. I'm getting 14+ volts of charge. All looks well. Let me know if this is acceptable or if I should modify anything that I had done here. By the way, I could not get the GEN light to come on for some reason again before I started this so I have no idea where it was getting grounded from. Perhaps that wire is in the harness somewhere. I'll look for it in the place you had indicated. The main wire going to the atnernator is a 10 gauge wire. Thanks for the help. I don't know where I would be without this forum...

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John_Muha

· #5 · Jun 16, 2005

sudolg said:
I ran the red wire to the male connector on my fuse box under the dash. It is labled, ignition. This gives it power when I start the car and energizes the regulator.

I wouldn't run this wire to IGN. That's a little too far away from the alternator for the sense line and could drive the alternator output too high because of dirty switch contacts.
If you need to run the sense line down to the fuseblock, at least move it over to BAT.

sudolg

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 16, 2005

I thought "Bat" would not work because then it will drain the battery when sitting, otherwise I would just run it to the main alternator line. I need a positive that switches on with the ignition from what I have read. Correct me if I am wrong.

1Fast7D

· #7 · Jun 16, 2005

John_Muha said:
I wouldn't run this wire to IGN. That's a little too far away from the alternator for the sense line and could drive the alternator output too high because of dirty switch contacts.
If you need to run the sense line down to the fuseblock, at least move it over to BAT.

Like John said again. "2" terminal on the alternator is used to adjust the voltage output of the alternator. Also wiring it on a fused cirucit, if the fuse blows the sense wire won't get any input. You could run it to the battery or the junction block on the rad core support (near the battery) You should get 14-14.5 volts at the battery (with a fully charged battery) , with the car running at a fast idle. The way its wired now the voltage at the battery might be to high overcharging it. Hope this helps

1Fast7D

· #8 · Jun 16, 2005

sudolg said:
I thought "Bat" would not work because then it will drain the battery when sitting, otherwise I would just run it to the main alternator line. I need a positive that switches on with the ignition from what I have read. Correct me if I am wrong.

You could run the "2" terminal back to main alternator line, all this does is mimic a one wire alternator. See pic

"1" terminal needs a positive that switches on with the ignition, if it was wired to Bat then yes it would drain the battery. Just to be certain make sure you are referencing the numbers on the back of the alternator and not wire colors.

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Rabbit

· #9 · Jun 16, 2005 (Edited)

undee70ss said:
You could run the "2" terminal back to main alternator line, all this does is mimic a one wire alternator. See pic

"1" terminal needs a positive that switches on with the ignition, if it was wired to Bat then yes it would drain the battery. Just to be certain make sure you are referencing the numbers on the back of the alternator and not wire colors.

That's the pic from Tech Ref 14 on this site, and it does indeed act likea one-wire alternator. I don't like this for two reasons. One, it just looks wrong,

and two, you lose the benefits of remote sensing.
Check out these articles about that:
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/remotevoltagesensing.shtml
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/onewire-threewire.shtml

John_Muha

· #10 · Jun 16, 2005

sudolg said:
I thought "Bat" would not work because then it will drain the battery when sitting, otherwise I would just run it to the main alternator line. I need a positive that switches on with the ignition from what I have read. Correct me if I am wrong.

No, it won't drain the battery unless the alternator is bad. A lot of cars came from the factory with the sense line tied right to the alternator B+ large terminal. They had a short red wire with an eyelet lug crimped on them to go onto the rear terminal. If I spot a real nice looking connector like that at the junkyard, they sometimes follow me home.

sudolg

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jun 16, 2005

First, I really appreciate the help here! You guys are great. The problem is, I am getting a drain if I hook up to a source when not swiched by the ignition. (like it mentions below) I am seeing this when checking the amperage at the battery. When I remove the line, it goes to zero. In reading the "madectrical.com", they make no mention of where to get the switched source, just mention that it is important to do this. Where do I properly wire this to a switched source? I know I probably don't need to but I really would like to. What would be proper here? I want Zero amperage draw when the car sits.

John_Muha

· #12 · Jun 16, 2005

As the posted diagram shows, pin 1 is the switched source. This is the excitation pin. Even though it works a light bulb it actually provides an input to the alternator from the switched side of the ignition.
Hook it up like the above diagram shows. Pin 1 normally gets tied to the GEN idiot light wire. This originally was a brown wire to the regulator connector.
The alternator, if good, should not be draining the battery if hooked up this way.

sudolg

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jun 16, 2005

OK. I'll try this. As long as the GEN light still works after I do this we're good to go. I actually thought that #1 grounded the "GEN" light...

John_Muha

· #14 · Jun 16, 2005

sudolg said:
OK. I'll try this. As long as the GEN light still works after I do this we're good to go. I actually thought that #1 grounded the "GEN" light...

It's low enough when the alternator isn't running to turn on the lamp. When the alternator starts working it goes high and turns off the lamp.

Rabbit

· #15 · Jun 17, 2005

sudolg said:
The problem is, I am getting a drain if I hook up to a source when not swiched by the ignition.

Are you really, really sure you didn't have the unswitched battery line going to #1 instead of #2? That absolutely would drain the battery (the alternator will also get very hot to the touch just sitting). Ask me how I know...

R

sudolg

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jun 17, 2005

Number 1 was not even connected which perhaps was the problem. Now its connected to the idiot light so now maybe it won't drain. I didn't have a chance last night to mess with it. I'm going to put the #2 right to the splice between alternator and the line that goes to the fuse block. It just doesn't look natural to put it right to the main alternator line like pictured. I supose I should also solder in a fusable link as well since I don't have one.

1Fast7D

· #17 · Jun 17, 2005

sudolg said:
Number 1 was not even connected which perhaps was the problem. Now its connected to the idiot light so now maybe it won't drain. I didn't have a chance last night to mess with it. I'm going to put the #2 right to the splice between alternator and the line that goes to the fuse block. It just doesn't look natural to put it right to the main alternator line like pictured. I supose I should also solder in a fusible link as well since I don't have one.

You can test for drain with a test light, with the key off, disconnect the positive battery cable and with the car not running hook the test light between the positive battery post and the positive battery cable. With all accessories off and any clocks or aftermarket radios disconnected the light should not light. If it does you still have a drain. If you think the alternator is draining it disconnect the flat blade connectors to see if the light goes out. That is a good place to put "2". It is the same place the factory put it in many cars. The fusible links are a good idea, in case of dead short the fusible link blows instead of frying the wires and maybe starting a fire.

sudolg

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jun 18, 2005

OK. I can't light the test light with the positive cable/terminal. However, I've got just under 5mA drain with the key off. Is this acceptable or is something wrong with the alt? Otherwise, all seems good now that I soldered the #2 to the splice. Hopefully we can put this to rest.

1Fast7D

· #19 · Jun 18, 2005

sudolg said:
OK. I can't light the test light with the positive cable/terminal. However, I've got just under 5mA drain with the key off. Is this acceptable or is something wrong with the alt?

Go here
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54232&highlight=drain

Dean

· #20 · Jun 18, 2005

and here

http://www.exide.com/products/trans/na/battery_care/electrical_parasitic_load.pdf

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