66 delta electrical problems
August 26th, 2008, 10:09 PM
#1
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66 delta electrical problems
hey all,
I am the proud (new) owner of a 66 2 door delta 88. When I bought her I drove her away. Upon inspection however the voltage regulator was unplugged and on the harness 2 wires were jumped. I have installed a new master cylinder, voltage regulator, and given her a tuneup.
Now the battery has started smellin like rotten eggs (I disconnected it). And there is a short somewhere in the system. I left the pos connected and used the test light trick on the neg to determine this. Then we started disconnecting fuses, hoping that the light would go out when the problem was disconnected. Well my car has no fuses in it now and still there is a draw. also I cannot reconnect the battery, it sparks when I try to connect the neg. I know it is probably something dumb but I am new and at my wits end. Any advice is appreciated. Gypsy
I am the proud (new) owner of a 66 2 door delta 88. When I bought her I drove her away. Upon inspection however the voltage regulator was unplugged and on the harness 2 wires were jumped. I have installed a new master cylinder, voltage regulator, and given her a tuneup.
Now the battery has started smellin like rotten eggs (I disconnected it). And there is a short somewhere in the system. I left the pos connected and used the test light trick on the neg to determine this. Then we started disconnecting fuses, hoping that the light would go out when the problem was disconnected. Well my car has no fuses in it now and still there is a draw. also I cannot reconnect the battery, it sparks when I try to connect the neg. I know it is probably something dumb but I am new and at my wits end. Any advice is appreciated. Gypsy
August 27th, 2008, 04:17 AM
#2
Oldsdruid
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Sounds like the car was converted to an internal voltage regulator alternator. There are VR jumper harnesses made for that conversion.
Look at the alternator plug. If it looks like this I I it is an external voltage regulator unit and has to have the VR on the firewall connected. If the plug looks like - - it is an internally regulated unit and the external regulator has to be bypassed. You then have to decide which one you want to use- externally regulated (original) or internally regulated (easier to live with).
If you have both regulators connected, usually what happens is the battery stays undercharged. Rotten egg smell sounds like overcharging though.
That's the trouble with a car you don't know the history on. People will do things, not document it, and subsequent owners have to sort it out.
Look at the alternator plug. If it looks like this I I it is an external voltage regulator unit and has to have the VR on the firewall connected. If the plug looks like - - it is an internally regulated unit and the external regulator has to be bypassed. You then have to decide which one you want to use- externally regulated (original) or internally regulated (easier to live with).
If you have both regulators connected, usually what happens is the battery stays undercharged. Rotten egg smell sounds like overcharging though.
That's the trouble with a car you don't know the history on. People will do things, not document it, and subsequent owners have to sort it out.
August 27th, 2008, 06:50 AM
#3
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Be careful! 
The rotten eggs smell is hydrogen sulfide which is discharged from the battery during improper charging. It is flammable and toxic. Not only should you figure out your charging issue, you should also make sure your battery is in good condition.
The rotten eggs smell is hydrogen sulfide which is discharged from the battery during improper charging. It is flammable and toxic. Not only should you figure out your charging issue, you should also make sure your battery is in good condition.
September 12th, 2008, 07:34 AM
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turns out I do have an aftermarket alternater. But still the problem remains.... I am wondering how to convert from an external to an internal voltage regulater correctly. On a different board I was told to jump the 2 inner wires together and the 2 outer wires together. also I was reading that someone else on this board is having the same problem and he was asked if he had a clock... I dont know what that means but mine has one. I ordered the shop manual on CD, if that gets here today I may try to figure this thing out. Gypsy
September 12th, 2008, 09:26 AM
#6
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the clock is a current draw, it s/b a very small draw though. it was mentioned in regards to the "lamp draw test", as it would light the bulb being used.
there were 2 different styles of the 10dn alternator(externally regulated). one had the II connection on the rear of the alternator(earlier type 100). in about '71 or '72 delco remy switched to the 10dn type 200 which had the -- connector on the side, identical to the later 10si style. this was done to save costs. also the type 200 had the same physical case appearance as the 10si and shared some of the same guts.
for conversion to 10si/12si, you could use any of the methods mentioned above, or you could cut and splice the two wires from a 10si/12si equipped car. all you care about are the red(sense) and brown(field) wires from the existing vr wiring. if you upgrade to a higher output alternator-you will want to upgrade the output terminal wiring too.
also, i want to reiterate what olds64 said about the flammability of hydrogen sulfide-it is highly explosive.
bill
there were 2 different styles of the 10dn alternator(externally regulated). one had the II connection on the rear of the alternator(earlier type 100). in about '71 or '72 delco remy switched to the 10dn type 200 which had the -- connector on the side, identical to the later 10si style. this was done to save costs. also the type 200 had the same physical case appearance as the 10si and shared some of the same guts.
for conversion to 10si/12si, you could use any of the methods mentioned above, or you could cut and splice the two wires from a 10si/12si equipped car. all you care about are the red(sense) and brown(field) wires from the existing vr wiring. if you upgrade to a higher output alternator-you will want to upgrade the output terminal wiring too.
also, i want to reiterate what olds64 said about the flammability of hydrogen sulfide-it is highly explosive.
bill
Last edited by BILL DEMMER; September 12th, 2008 at 09:33 AM.
September 28th, 2008, 06:34 PM
#7
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put in a new battery today. And the car fired right up!!! Seemingly none of the old problems were present. then went to start it again and the starter kept turning long after I had turned the key back off. removed the starter and had it bench-tested and replaced it. now I have no power to the coil...........LOL if it isn't one thing it's another. I did drive it around the block today in between problems and it felt gooooood. hope to fix it again soon. Gypsy
September 28th, 2008, 10:57 PM
#8
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check your wiring connections to the solenoid.
maybe you missed one or put one on the wrong terminal.
or the wire broke internally.
does the dizzy have power while cranking, in the run position, or not at all?
bill
maybe you missed one or put one on the wrong terminal.
or the wire broke internally.
does the dizzy have power while cranking, in the run position, or not at all?
bill
October 6th, 2008, 07:38 AM
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success!!!!!!!!!! well........ mostly success. I found that I had 2 pink wires (one from the ig switch an 1 from the fuse block) jumped into one wire to the coil. anyways it was fried. replaced the wire and the battery and the car runs amazing. it isnt charging still, and still has a draw. I am gonna bench test the alternator later and see. I cant help but wonder about the wiring of it though. right now I have the 2 middle wires on the old regulator "jumped" the red an yellow. I hope this is right. Gypsy
October 9th, 2008, 11:31 AM
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found out that the alternator was junk... and so with the wiring problems and the alt problem I bought an old style alternator... new alternator, new ext regulator, and new battery. I was hoping that this would solve my problem but it hasn't. is there some lil trick I need to do when installing a new ext regulator?? tested the system at advance and there is no output... does it need to be "polarized"??
October 9th, 2008, 09:01 PM
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I didnt think so... well thanks for all the help Bill. I guess the only thing to do is to dis-mount my new alternator and have it bench tested. If its good I will start replacing wires. Unfortunately I am in a situation where the delta is the closest thing to decent transportation that I have. anyway thanks again Bill you have saved me a few times. Gypsy
October 14th, 2008, 07:50 PM
#15
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was told earlier today by advance auto parts that they no longer carry the external voltage regulator alternator. the one I bought 4 days ago. so they have refunded my money and I went and bought a gm single-wire. bypassed all the wiring AND replaced the alternator. real, true success. put it on the car tonight and will be driving it tomorrow. thanks sooo much for all the help. heh... now on to the next problem (whatever that may be). Gypsy
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