Alternator Problem

[elcaminodave]

A little over a month ago, I was driving my stock 1984 T-Type and the voltage light came on. When I pulled over, I saw that the pulley on the alternator had broken and the belt had come off. I replaced the pulley and the belt and then noticed that the volt light did not come on even when I was starting the car. I have since found out that the alternator is not charging. Is it possible that a bad alternator could cause the volt light to not come on when I start the car, or do you think I have another problem. I have swapped bulbs around to make sure the bulb is good, and the bulb is not the problem with the light. Any help on this would be appreciated.

 

[granatl]

Make sure the brown wire is securely fastened in the socket of the alternator (at the 1 o'clock position when facing the back of the alternator). Maybe the belt coming off broke that wire?

 

[83ttypecooled]

Hi,
I have never seen an alternator pulley break,but I think some damage was done to the internal regulator, or other components inside the alternator.Is the regulator connector one wire, or two? I think it is a single wire. Anyway...
Disconnect the field hookup, then take a testlight, hooked to ground, and probe the terminals at the harness, with the key on.You should have one connection which lights the testlight only dimly.At the same time, this connection should cause the idiot light to glow dimly. If a second wire exists, it should light the testlight brightly.
If the testlight glows dimly, and lights the idiot light,then it is almost a certain thing that you have alternator problems. You could check the 8 gauge wire that goes to the back of the alternator for power,but I doubt that is your issue.
I hope this is clear, tried to cover all the bases the best I could remember.Good luck with your issues...

 

[elcaminodave]

I tried with the brown wire and the light did not come on. I also took the alternator to Autozone and had it checked. It checked out ok. Do you think I may have a problem with the wires that plug into the alternator? Or maybe a problem at the dash circuit board. Checking at the battery with the car running, the voltage was only about 12. I understand that is too low.

 

[SloGN]

does the Alt light come on when the key is in the on position with the engine not running?.


if not check the bulb first and for most. If the bulb is good then you need to unhook the brown wire from the back of the alt and ground that wire to the neg side of the battery with the key on and engine off. if the light still does not light up then there is a problem with that wire or the dash cluster has a bad connection. Also besure to check the gauges fuse in the fuse box. if that fuse is bad or missing this will cause a no charge problem also. I took a car apart one time to find out the fuse had fell out of the fuse box!

 

[elcaminodave]

I have tried a wire from the brown wire and the light still does not come on. I am leaning toward replacing the plug because the brown wire has a small nick in it and it feels weak. All of my other dash lights work, so that makes me think it is not a fuse.

 

[83ttypecooled]

Hi,
The connector could be bad,try probing the wire back a few inches.As these are old cars, and use the older,large gauge wiring, that is unlikely. What is more likely is a connection problem at the instrument cluster. Take the cluster out,disconnect the battery,and spread all the terminals,CAREFULLY.Also, check for corrosion. Are you pretty confident the bulb is ok?If not, put a NEW one in. Use GE,not some Chinese crap, because you don't want to be doing the job repeatedly.It's a 194, by the way.If you are up to it, check the wire at the cluster, while it is out.A simple probe of the wire while it's running should energize the regulator WHILE it's running.
That's about all I can think of at this point. Good luck with your issue.

 

[elcaminodave]

I got a new connector and am going to try it tonight.

 

[elcaminodave]

Here's where I stand now. I replaced the old connector and the light still does not work. I pulled the cluster, put a known working bulb and socket in the Volt slot and the light still does not work. I looked at the circuit board around the light and it looks fine. Any other suggestions? Is it necessary for the light to be working for the alternator to charge? I am not really that concerned about the light, I am planning on adding a gauge.

 

[granatl]

The light is indeed necessary in order to charge. I learned that one the hard way!

 

[SloGN]

Here's where I stand now. I replaced the old connector and the light still does not work. I pulled the cluster, put a known working bulb and socket in the Volt slot and the light still does not work. I looked at the circuit board around the light and it looks fine. Any other suggestions? Is it necessary for the light to be working for the alternator to charge? I am not really that concerned about the light, I am planning on adding a gauge.

okay since you have been that far you need to check and see if there is 12volts on one side of the bulb holder. if there is no 12 volts witht he key on engine off you have a power issue tot he bulb instead of a ground. also since you have that to can check the continunity of the brown wire all the way back to the dash cluster to make sure the wire is not broken causing this problem.

 

[elcaminodave]

Latest update.
I checked all of my fuses. They are all fine. I used a circuit tester and checked the new alternator plug. I have a bright test light at the red wire(wire from plug to back of alternator) I have no test light at the brown wire that runs into the wiring harness.
One other thing I did. I used a cheap multimeter that I have and probed the battery with the car running. I set the multimeter to DCV 20 and got a reading of a little over 19. I realize that is very high (may have a bad multimeter) Does this indicate anything?

 

[elcaminodave]

Checked my multimeter. The battery needed to be replaced. My reading at the battery with the car running is actually around 12.00.

 

[TurboWh1]

I had the exact same problem. I had to make a seperate harness to basically do the same thing that the little brown wire does. More than likely you have a short in the brown wire. To remedy this you can run a wire from ignition hot to the brown wire, you MUST us a resistor in line. The resistor does the same thing as a bulb. It drops the voltage down. I chased my tail for a month with this problem. Its no fun. Hope this helps!!

 

[53dogg]

The light is indeed necessary in order to charge. I learned that one the hard way!

After wondering about my sudden charging problem,oh, did I mention new alt. and battery??, I read that if volt light doesn't come on with key in on position,it won't allow battery to charge while driving.I tapped lightly on dash with key in on pos.,came back on!! TurboBuick Rules,thanks to everybody!!Problem solved!!!

 

[53dogg]

After wondering about my sudden charging problem,oh, did I mention new alt. and battery??, I read that if volt light doesn't come on with key in on position,it won't allow battery to charge while driving.I tapped lightly on dash with key in on pos.,came back on!! TurboBuick Rules,thanks to everybody!!Problem solved!!!

wanted to add that after starting and driving car ,it's charging fine now,before after a 10 -15 mile drive it wasn't charged.Never noticed volt light not working ,till I read it in an earlier post.Pick up a few bulbs tomorrow

 

[elcaminodave]

Thanks for all of your help I finally found the problem. I tried different bulbs, sockets, cleaning and adjusting contacts and even trying a different cluster with no luck. Finally, I took the cluster loose and wiggled it back and forth until the light came on. I then bolted down the cluster in that position and everything is fine now. Alternator is charging properly. I guess I just had to get the connector in the perfect position.

 

[MONSTER GN]

having this issue now, im getting power to the light in the dash, ive tested the bulb it works, but light still isnt coming on, something robbing my ground causing light to not come on?