Alternator not chargine battery?, or is it not set up correctly Options

[ben1440]

Hey All,

Since swapping out my 72' 1.7 with a 1.8 out of a '75 my battery has not been charging. I dont think its a bad alternator but maybe that I may have it set up incorrectly.

My setup is the alternater harness connects to the relay board and then the wire goes to the right post on the starter. Then the left post on the starter connects to the battery. Is this correct?

Does anyone have pics of a 1.8 L-Jet relay board and/or a pic of a starter with the wires connected? When the car is off. the batter is at about 11.75v and then with the car and the lights on it drops to about 11.4v but stays there.

Thanks,

--Ben

[ben1440]

If it matters, the GEN light on the dash does not come on.

[Allan]

I know that if the VR or the 3 wire plug is disconnected at the relay board the light will not come on. On my starter the big wire from the alternator and the battery wire go to the top post and the small ignition wire goes to the post closest to the tranny...

[ArtechnikA]

QUOTE (ben1440 @ Jul 29 2005, 12:56 PM)

...the alternater harness connects to the relay board and then the wire goes to the right post on the starter. Then the left post on the starter connects to the battery. Is this correct?

i can't tell what direction you're facing from here ...

[Dave_Darling]

The wire from the alternator and the wire from the battery connect to the same post on the starter. That's how the "juice" gets from the alternator back to the battery.

I think the other stud is a ground; you may have done some damage hooking that up directly to the battery or the alternator, whichever you hooked up to it.

--DD

[lapuwali]

Does the gen light EVER come on? If it doesn't come on with the key (engine not running), then you need to figure out why, as that means either that bulb it burned out, or the wiring to and from it isn't right. One side should connect to the ignition switch, the other to the VR via the relay board.

[ben1440]

I replaced the relay board and now I have a G light that stayed on for the duration of my 7 mile trip. I have not checked to see with a multimeter if the battery is being charged. Maybe my only problem now is i have the alternator and battery wire connected to different terminals on the starter. What does it mean if the light is on constantly?

Thanks

--Ben

[SGB]

My understanding is that the spade connectors on the solinoid are connected- you can use either one. For the posts with nuts- evrything is attached to the one on the side AWAY from the starter- red line from alt, red line from battery, green (?- I think) line from ignition. Anyway- what you describe for output is classic BAD ALTERNATOR. I think it is just blown diodes, but I dunno where they are or how to fix em. I have gon thru at least 3 Bosche reman ones. The one I got now was rebuilt by "Arlington Armatures" in VA. Its not a bosch body and is lighter weight and higher output too. Of course now they have my old Bosch one, so the next rebuild may be that one....
EDIT- yeah, the light will stay on and no charging if the alt is still no connected to the + battery cable somehow, and I would think that it is only connected while the sol is engaged in your current (BAD pun) setup....

[Cap'n Krusty]

QUOTE (Dave_Darling @ Jul 29 2005, 11:12 AM)

The wire from the alternator and the wire from the battery connect to the same post on the starter. That's how the "juice" gets from the alternator back to the battery. I think the other stud is a ground; you may have done some damage hooking that up directly to the battery or the alternator, whichever you hooked up to it. --DD

"The other stud is a ground"? I'm surprised at you, Dave. The outer stud is the battery and alternator cable post, the other one (nearest the body of the starter) is energized when the solenoid is activated and supplies power to the starter motor (through that little braided cable), causing it to rotate and turn the engine over. Funny, that same erronious statement appeared on the quattro list last week. The Cap'n

[ClayPerrine]

Excuse the paint drawing, but it should show you the proper connections on your starter.

[Dave_Darling]

QUOTE (Cap'n Krusty @ Jul 29 2005, 11:48 AM)

"The other stud is a ground"? I'm surprised at you, Dave. The outer stud is the battery and alternator cable post, the other one (nearest the body of the starter) is energized when the solenoid is activated and supplies power to the starter motor (through that little braided cable), causing it to rotate and turn the engine over. Funny, that same erronious statement appeared on the quattro list last week.

I've never been over on the Quattro list. But you are quite right about the function of the other stud. Brain fart on my part, I'm afraid... The braided strap image got stuck in my head and said "ground" to me, even though it isn't actually a ground.

--DD

[ben1440]

I think i am finally good now. I got the battery wire and alternator wire back on the same post. Luckily I had another relay board sitting around because when i swapped that in there i now have a G light that goes on when the key is in the on position and then the light goes off when the car is on. All that is left is to verify its charging with a multimeter. Thanks everyone (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smilie_pokal.gif)

--Ben