new to gn and volt problem

[earlbrown]

found your painless piece. It looks like someone rigged up an external solenoid for some reason.
http://www.murcal.com/Catalog/Bear-DC-Contactor-Family/114-1211-020

 

[jonstaley89]

Oh damn. You need to post a location and have someone local come take a look at all that aftermarket stuff. If you were local to me I'd start with hedge clippers and end up with a pile of unnecessary aftermarket stuff laying next to the car.

Is that thing behind the battery next to the turbo a ford solenoid to boost power to the starter? I see a non stock ground going to the PS header and it looks like some sort of boost actuated something or another. Possibly a voltbooster and quite possibly your charging problem.

Honestly I have no idea what any of it is, whoever had this before just kept throwing stuff at it. There is wires everywhere. I posted in my regional section of the forum. How else could I possible find someone the is turbo buick knowledgable locally?

So it is a solenoid, Im slowly losing myself in this car lol

 

[earlbrown]

start a new thread titled 'anybody local to XXXXXX than can help me with my car'.


Most of us are friendly when we're not behind a keyboard

 

[TLIMITED]

Lol. Umm no it doesnt but pulled out the dash and replaced the volts bulb with a 194 bulb and still no volt light

I,ve had two cars over the years do this.Check connections at the back of the cluster and the harness.On both of the ones i had you could push in hard on the cluster in that area and the light would come on and system would charge for a little bit and quit and of course you had no indication it wasn't charging other than the car would run the battery down and start running like sh?t.after about a week of messing with it found that the plastic housing that the cluster mounts to had gotten warped just enough for the cluster to not make contact in the back at all times.You could not see the warping with the naked eye, so I replaced that housing and no more problems.Hope this helps!!!

 

[EYE-OPENER]

Are you getting power to the bulb socket for the volt light? If not and all your fuses are good you could temporarily run a wire from the acc port on your fuse panel (switched power) to the socket and the light should work and alternator should charge. I'd definitely dig into why it's not live if that's the case.

 

[jonstaley89]

I,ve had two cars over the years do this.Check connections at the back of the cluster and the harness.On both of the ones i had you could push in hard on the cluster in that area and the light would come on and system would charge for a little bit and quit and of course you had no indication it wasn't charging other than the car would run the battery down and start running like sh?t.after about a week of messing with it found that the plastic housing that the cluster mounts to had gotten warped just enough for the cluster to not make contact in the back at all times.You could not see the warping with the naked eye, so I replaced that housing and no more problems.Hope this helps!!!

So you replaced the socket the bulbs goes into? And that was it

 

[jonstaley89]

Are you getting power to the bulb socket for the volt light? If not and all your fuses are good you could temporarily run a wire from the acc port on your fuse panel (switched power) to the socket and the light should work and alternator should charge. I'd definitely dig into why it's not live if that's the case.

I have no way of checking if the socket is getting power. If everyone says its the socket it may be the last thing I buy, and see if it works

 

[TurboBuRick]

Go buy a cheap 12vdc test light.

Also check the plug on the alternator itself. I've seen the wire break just below where it goes into the plug. Give it a little yank. If it pulls out you found your problem.

 

[jonstaley89]

The plug on the alternator where the grounds go? I did see the bolt that comes with alternator ground isnt very tight, its snug then becomes loose when tightwned

 

[TurboBuRick]

The plug with single wire. There is only one.

 

[jonstaley89]

Okay ill check it tonight

 

[jonstaley89]

That wire is fine off the alternator. I went ahead and bought the harness everyone told me about to bypass the system, and also bought a new socket from buick. So when they get here im going to replace them both, and f that doesnt fix them im officially and completly lost.

 

[GNRick]

Here is one in NM....http://www.cardomain.com/ride/775293/1987-buick-grand-national/page-2/

 

[jonstaley89]

Okay so here is a update. Checked all the ground everything looks good. But battery was dead, so this is where im worried. Checked the wire coming out of alternator and cleaned it. But asked a mechanic about my problem he seems to think a voltage regulator is the problem. When I took the old alternator off I popped against metal a couple times til I realized that my pos on battery was still connected. I turned that alternator in for the new one. Cleaned the terminals. Replaced socket and bulb for folts light, nothing. I did have my insturment panel start smoking lightly, but that is when I tried pushing the cluster in to see if the harness was getting a connection. Idea's???????? I do have a solenoid hooked up from alternator threw noid to battery. HELP

 

[EYE-OPENER]

A $4 test light would tell you exactly where to look...first thing I always recommend is to keep it simple. Now it seems you are way further in than you need to be and hope you can make your way out. I'd get the alternator tested off the car and battery slow charged and tested as well. You may have popped a fuse by the sounds of it at some point.

 

[jonstaley89]

Well o checked all fuses under dash. Is there anywhere else to look?

 

[HouTX87]

Here's the wiring schematic from gnttype.org. How about checking fusible link C? The brown wire at the alternator should be hot in run. Double check the gages fuse. Get a test light yet?

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/images/wiring_images/charging_ckt.jpg

 

[GullsGN]

Okay so here is a update. Checked all the ground everything looks good. But battery was dead, so this is where im worried. Checked the wire coming out of alternator and cleaned it. But asked a mechanic about my problem he seems to think a voltage regulator is the problem. When I took the old alternator off I popped against metal a couple times til I realized that my pos on battery was still connected. I turned that alternator in for the new one. Cleaned the terminals. Replaced socket and bulb for folts light, nothing. I did have my insturment panel start smoking lightly, but that is when I tried pushing the cluster in to see if the harness was getting a connection. Idea's???????? I do have a solenoid hooked up from alternator threw noid to battery. HELP

Smoke coming from your instrument panel is NEVER good! Even a "little". You have something shorting out. If you had smoke, then you have something melted. You have to find out what and where the smoke came from.

 

[jonstaley89]

The smoke im about 85% sure is the harness the cluster plugs into. havn't got a test light yet going to the store after I right this to get the battery trickle charged, what exactly would I use the test light for??? I think you guys are right im going to take the alternator off and get it tested again

 

[earlbrown]

I RARELY try and persuade someone to not work on their car..... but, you need a friend that knows automotive electronics to help you straighten this out.

It looks like you're on the verge of learning 'what not to do' over and over. and it's going to get very expensive soon!