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found my electrical draw. kind of? my alternator wiring

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  Bryan59EC 
#1 · (Edited)






ok this is whats going on. my battery kept draining so i tested it with a volt tester and removed all the fuses to find the short.... it wasnt any of the fuses it was a wire connected to the positive battery cable. it goes straight to a harness on the side .(pictured above). from there it looks like it splits to a couple places . first the alternator which is wired wrong. from the harness on the side the live wire gets wrapped in tape with a green and yellow wire and pops up by the alternator. (also in picture) but the yellow and green are not connected to the alternator. the red live wire goes to the alternator then it goes back into its harness. the little wire harness on the alternator has a red and white wire.. white is not connected red to red live does anyone know why?????
my car will run and charge like this ? i checked it with a multimeter but there is a draw from this wire? is it coming from the alternator or something else connected to the harness?????


some one please help im confused and tired of asking for jump starts
 
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#3 ·
OK I'll take a shot at this ,it has been a long time since I worked on one of these systems, first pic I think that the red wire that is connected to the main red wire (12+) is supposed to be hooked to a 12volt switched source (turns on/off from the key) if 12 volts is connected to that plug in terminal (which is the internal regulator/exciton source) then it would make the regulator "hot"all of the time so it would be a drain when the motor is not running.
Second pic. can't tell much from that pic other than it has one of those temporary battery post terminals which are only good enough to get you home or a parts house to get a new cable ,if you leave it on there you can guarantee that it will leave you stranded at the worst time........change it as soon as you can.
Third pic can't tell much about it either except that you have home wiring type wire nuts on some wires ....these things have no place on a automobile,they will back off due to vibration and they corrode very easily. Put the right splices or terminals on these wires .
Hope this helps, Good Luck
Kenny
Oh the white wire in the first pic goes to the idiot light in the dash .....I think
 
#4 ·
The red wire from the plug on the Alt to the main lug on the Alt is OKAY.
Not really the most effective point to sense voltage, but is how I have the alternators set up in both of my Elkies.

The white wire is the 'excite' wire----goes back to the fusebox and to the indicator light (if equipped) or thru a resistor wire.
This wire turns the alternator on when the key is turned to 'run'

When the alternator fails, the terminal that white wire goes to is supposed to 'ground out' turning on the indicator.

The red wire in the plug senses voltage, and if the voltage output of the alternator falls below a certain point, the alternator starts charging to bring the voltage up to 14.2 at the point where the other end of the red wire is connected.

Whoops----just noticed that the white wire is not connected to anything.
That really should be connected to an ignition source to turn the alternator "on". And it will NEED the indicator lamp, a resistance wire, or a diode in line.
If one of these 3 items is not used, the car will most likely not shut off.

Alternator wiring looks okay, but if you are chasing a battery drain, and you suspect the alternator, might want to get it checked. Diode paks can fail and discharge the battery when the car is off.
 
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