why am I not charging? (updated 11/18)

[layedout72]

dummy light dash panel? and just wire it in line? im going with an aftermarket dash setup, but if I can get it to work....

[layedout72]

what type of resistor is it? the old ceramic style for coils, or the little tiny ones radio shack has.

i really dont want to buy a whole new alt and crap if this works. i just need to find why it's not doing what it should.

[fordman]

is it about 3 or four inches ong and has two prongs on it? if so ask for one fromn the parts store for a chrysler cordoba 1975

[layedout72]

im not sure what it looks like, because it wasn't there stock. i'm trying to bypass the "voltage light" or whatever.

or if anyone has one of those, i could just wire it in line as well I guess.

[fordman]

so did you ever figure out where all the alt wires hooked to? i think you had a extra white wie or something.

[layedout72]

I'm not real sure honestly. the purple wire that is supposedly resistive on the stock harness from the ignition switch, doesn't get constant power, which I believe it should. The white wire from the kit I bought, is constant power, so I don't know if it should or shouldn't be.

I also can't find my "dummy voltage" light. All I found is the brake warning light, which mounts on the dash below the instrument panel, beside the ignition and stuff.

Where am I supposed to be looking for this "dummy light" if I even have one. I have an "ALT" gauge that reads D to C, which I assume is dead and charge. im still hunting, not gunna give up on it, just tired of this crap.

[Thunderfoot]

The dash with the ALT gauge used a resistive wire from the ignition to the Voltage Regulator (Exciter wire). The dash with idiot lights had a non-resistive wire that went from the ignition to the ALT light in the instrument cluster and then to the Voltage Regulator (Exciter wire)
The idiot light acts the same as the resistance wire as the light is wired in series (power from switch goes on one wire and the other wire goes to the voltage regulator)
A light like this should work http://www.painlessperformance.com/webc ... ield=80208 I've seen them called Pilot lights, you just need one that has single element and 2 wires (housing is not the ground). I've seen lots of LED lights like this but I'm not %100 sure if they will work or not, they are easy to find and cheep so you could try one.

Other thing would be to go to Radio Shack and get a resistor and wire it in line (they might have a light there also…) I would wire the resistor out on the fender well close to the Voltage Regulator.

[fordman]

but why is he going around the alt guage. if he has the alt guage and the alt hook up why not just hook it up correclty? why rig something up. if it doesnt work properly when hooked up then a component of that system must be bad and just need replaced. i dont understand? what is going on here?

[layedout72]

if the ohm load of the resistor matters, the resistor is a no go. already tried that. 480, 560, and 640 I believe.

[Thunderfoot]

Anything over 560 ohms should of done it, so the 560 or 640 should have worked... You might have killed the Voltage Regulator from before or you have some other problem.

On this "exciter wire" it should be hot all the time the key is on (run) for the other question you had...

[layedout72]

wooohooooooo i believe we have a winner!!!!

i think I have had the stator and field wires crossed at some point, frying the regulator. fixed it, threw on a 680 resistor, and we have voltage raising past 13.1!!

[layedout72]

its sitting right around 13.44-13.47

this is where it should be if im not mistaken...right?

[spartman]

some go as high as 14-14.4 but that should be fine

[Thunderfoot]

good deal. Votage sounds normal

[layedout72]

I believe we have it conquered! I couldn't ever see what it went to with RPM's on it, but I just rigged the meter so I could read while on the gas. It sits at a consistant 14.09-14.10 with anything above 1000 or so RPM's. perfect in my book