Alternator and Electrical Question Options

[Barretta]

Quick question, I know all you knowledgeable 914'ers must be burnt out on electrical questions, so I'll keep it breif--for now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif). My 74 1.8 isn't charging but the light will go off on the dash and when the alternator is unplugged and re-plugged into the main harness you can notice a parasitical loss...but it doesn't read that it is charging when tested on the battery. There is a red w/ white stripe wire (seems to be a live wire) that has been snipped off the alternators harness...what is this for? where does it go? could it be the problem? Any ideas would be a lot of help. Thanks.

I am a newbie to the 914 land, obviously.

[drive-ability]

Well by you seeing the light on the dash go off tells us part of the wiring is intact and working as designed. I have a V8 and a GM guy but many charging systems, older units use three wires as its core circuits. One as you have seen above working and the another would supply battery voltage (12 V). I don't know how the 914 delivers the voltage but surely it needs to be there when the engine is running, may be there with the ignition on. The third is also battery voltage normally hot all the time with the key on or off. The first wire normally is the smallest in size, the second is next and the third is the largest gage. I would make sure you have voltage at the second and third wires. Thats a simple way to check the harness in many older systems. I really don't know how the 914 is configured so hopefully once someone reads this they will chip in with Porsche comments.