jtriggy

Hi Folks,

Firstly, I think I've read ALL the possible threads on this and am still having difficulty. I say that to let you know I tried educating myself before asking.

I have a new Optima battery, new alternator (tried 2 different ones) and a new solid state external regulator (Note: Condenser is NOT new). Car starts just fine but is not charging the battery, even at increased RPMs. Multimeter reads 12.5 between POS and NEG battery posts, reads 12.5 at the back of the alternator and reads 12.5 from the POS post to any other metal surface in the engine compartment, including the block and intake.

I ran a 8 gauge wire from BATT on back of alternator directly to POS post of battery, just in case there was some issue/break along the way. I also held a flat screwdriver to the back of the alternator and there is definitely a pull (magnetized). I cleaned battery terminals, cleaned and tightened all four connections to regulator and cleaned and tightened two connections to back of alternator (blue/white connection).

I have multiple grounds...NEG post to the radiator support, GROUND post on back of alternator directly to the NEG post on battery, two ground wires connecting the engine block to the frame, etc.

The GEN light in the car is very dimly lit when in the ACC position (not as bright as OIL light). Car is also HEI (Flamethrower) but I doubt that has anything to do with it as it runs fine, just doesn't charge.

I'm not great with electric issues but I think I have the basics covered but for the life of me I cannot think of a next step besides bringing it to someone who knows more that I do (which should be everybody).

Any ideas?

Thanks,
James

rocketraider

The dim GEN light in accessory is normal. It's designed that way so you won't accidentally leave the switch on and discharge the battery.

What concerns me is that the alternator is only delivering 12.5v at the output post (with engine running, I presume). A good functioning alternator should be putting out at least 13.5-14v.

Do you have the CORRECT alternator for this car installed? Sometimes the parts store monkey will give you an internal regulated unit when you need an external regulated one. You said blue/white wire which should be external regulator; does the plug look like this I I or this - - ? Ext reg needs I I .

Have you had the alternator bench tested?

I'll be honest. I'm not a big fan of Optima or other glass-mat batteries, mainly due to a catastrophic emergency battery bank failure at my work (newly introduced Johnson Controls AGM batteries that we were told was the best thing since sliced bread- that failure cost us nearly $6 million). It may have nothing to do with your problem here, but Optimas can be notoriously finicky about charging.

BILL DEMMER

X2 on having the alternator tested off the car.


bill

jtriggy

I tried two different alternators. First was a brand new 1-wire PROFORM from Summit (with internal regulator). The second was one purchased at Napa (with external regulator). THe second one (with external regulator) has II connection (indicating external regulator that is also hooked up).

The battery didn't charge the former battery either, which was not an Optima. It was AC-Delco.

I will have the alternators tested but I doubt that both from different sources would have the same exact problem.

svnt442

It sounds like a wiring issue to me. 40 year old wires can and do fail.

Lady72nRob71

I assume you tried two different regulators? New ones out of the box can be bad.
Wiring is the last thing to verify and looks like you are almost there if not now.
Do you have a wiring diagram? You will need to check voltages at some points and ohm out the rest, particularly the lines from the reg.
Also, make sure all the terminals in the connectors are making contact and are not pitted or burned to prevent contact.

rocketraider

I think I'm right that those one-wire jobs don't charge much at idle if at all. They have to be spun up to "flash" their field and start charging. If you had it and the external regulator in place at the same time, I wonder if you might have fried something, because more than one has had an internal regulator alternator on an external regulated system and could not keep the battery charged.

Lady72nRob71

Another interesting possibility.
Attempting to regulate a regulated output is a recipe for failure for one of the regs...

jtriggy

Hi, no, the one wire (internally regulated) alternator and the external regulator were not used together. I used the one wire alternator by itself and the "normal" (external regulator) alternator with the external regulator. I took both alternators to advance auto parts today and both tested ok, even though I had to show them how to use the machine...having never seen one before myself. I only tried one new regulator. I will connect the old regulator up to the "normal" regulator and see if that makes a difference. Update to follow.

TripDeuces

One wire alternators need to be at a certain RPM before they energize. Try revving the engine past 2000 rpm for a bit with the one wire model and then see what the voltage is. Of course this doesn't explain why the others didn't work but it's worth a try.

vmathy

I had the same problem on my 71. New battery, alternator and regulator all checked good. I pulled my hair out checking every connection in the system, still no charge? The battery cables and ends looked like new and were all tight but just for the hell of it I decided to change the ends. When I took them apart I couldnt belive it the positive cable had corrosion around every strand of wire in the cable. I stripped it back a couple of inches and it was still like that inside so I replaced both cables. Problem cured! GOOD LUCK!

BILL DEMMER

have you tried "full-fielding" any of the alternators to see if they'll respond?

for the externally regulated alternator 10DN: http://www.delcoremy.com/pdfs/servic...acy/1G-262.pdf (figure 10)

for the internally regulated 10SI & 12SI: http://www.delcoremy.com/pdfs/servic...acy/1G-266.pdf (figure 8)

do this for a very short period of time, 5 seconds or less.


bill

jtriggy

Alright kids,

Here is the update:

I removed my brand new solid state external regulator and put the old (points) regulator back in and I saw a voltage increase once the car was started! I couldn't tell exactly what voltage it was because my multimeter goes to 50V but it was at least a little which is an improvement. If I had to guess I'd say around 14V!

The GEN light was also no longer dim but brighter right before startup...the same brightness as the OIL light, so the dim light was definitely telling me something.

Hooray and thank you!

On its second maiden voyage, the HOT light came on after just 2 miles. Tomorrow I'll double check the coolant level but if it is good I'm going to take the thermostat out to see if that is not opening as I don't know of any other way to ensure the fluid is circulating. It is a new Tuff Stuff water pump btw. Then again, I've learned new stuff sometimes doesn't work! Although it spun just find when it was installed several weeks ago.

Lady72nRob71

Yep, 14V is in the normal range. Glad you have that issue fixed.
Sometimes you get new parts dead out of the box.
Hope the temperature problem is easy to fix...

I had this happen on the positive cable of my motorcycle at the starter side. It was positioned where water could get in but not out.

jtriggy

Hi,

Turns out the radiator was about half full! Turns out I forgot to fill it up again after I overheated it last time (different problem altogether).

Hopefully that'll solve it. Also picked up aftermarket gauges so I can better monitor the situation (Water Temp/Oil Pressure/Volts and Tach).

You guys rock. I'm so much more confident just knowing you guys are here.

James

rocketraider

OK- you said the GEN light was dim with switch in ACCESSORY? That's normal. Looks like you were trying to tell us it was dim in RUN, which would have been an abnormal condition. Sorry for confusion.

Glad you figured out the problem. It's kinda odd that a new solid state regulator would have been set that low though. It's possible to get bad electronic junk right out of the box.