Cincinnati Rick

I've been working on fixing my dash wiring harness and in the process came across a 10 ohm resistance wire. According to the wiring diagram, this wire runs from the ignition connector on the column to the external voltage regulator. Is this wire needed if I'm running an alternator with an internal regulator and electronic ignition?
Also if you could school me on what exactly it's function was I'd really appreciate it.

joe_padavano

The GM voltage regulator requires a small load in the field wire for the regulator to "turn on" and start producing voltage. Normally the reisitance in the GEN lamp is sufficient, but if the bulb burns out, the ŕegulator may not turn on. This happened on my 62 (with alt conversion). Later cars incorporated the resistor in parallel with the lamp as a fail safe in case the bulb burned out. A 12SI alternator still needs this resistance. A CS130 does not.

Cincinnati Rick

Thanks for the explanation Joe. Makes sense now.