OldsNoob

Hey guys,

New to the forum. I got a 69 Vista Cruiser that gives me the generator light and the battery won't charge. I've replaced the battery, alternator, the regulator and redone the harness up to the firewall (only the brown from terminal 4 goes up). I've ohmed out the harness and redone my battery ground, checked the ground on the regulator as mounted on the firewall and everything checks out. The new alternator is a cheap rebuilt 61 amp from o'reilly and it bench-tests fine.

The only way I get any output from the alternator is when the harness is disconnected and I jumper from 2 on the alternator to the batt post on the alternator.

I've tried jumping 1 to 2 and 3 on the regulator harness and nothing. My cables all ohm at .3 including between grounds. The one exception is my brown wire (terminal 4 on the regulator). When I ohm it through the firewall to the fuse block I get just over 7 ohms At the ignition connector and at all accessory contacts on the right side of the fuse block. That seems a little suspect to me but the car starts and the accessories work fine, just only off the battery. So, if I had a short across the firewall how would that stop my alternator from producing?

I would have thought the regulator suspect but I get the same results with two different regulators. I enjoy the investigation but my wife prefers I solve the problem quickly. Thanks for all the help in advance!

joe_padavano

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this statement, but try the following. Disconnect the plug from the regulator. With the key on, the GEN light should be off. Now ground the brown wire in that connector. The light should go on. Finally, apply +12V to the brown wire. The light should go off. If this works, the wiring from the connector to the dash is correct and the problem is the alternator, regulator, or wiring in between. If the above does not work, the problem is in the dash wiring.

OldsNoob

Will do, All that babble I threw up there basically says, I replaced all the components and wires in the engine compartment and they ohm out. So, I will double check the brown wire.

Sorry, I hope that is the problem because I have had the same symptoms with two sets of components and wires inside the engine compartment.

Thanks for sorting through my verbage.

OldsNoob

So, Brown wire checks out: light on when gone to ground and off when 12v applied. Is it possible my alternator has an internal regulator despite what was advertized and doesn't like playing with the external regulator? I'm a newbie I make no attempt hide that. Just not sure what I'd be missing.

Thanks

OldsNoob

Well, I'm an idiot. Turns out my diagrams were for the SI series not the DN swapped leads on the alternator and all is well...Thanks