Alternator Question: Answered!!!

[Sean Shoemaker]

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Well my friends in the congregation I have special thanks to give out to th=
ose of you that so dilligently and repeatedly tried to help Ben and myself =
with my misfit toy.  I was having a charging problem on my '84 CGT (WE 2144=
cc).

Today was a happy day in Shoeville.  Richard gave us the last bit of advice=
 that really led to the eventually discover of the true culprit.  This turn=
ed out to be a bone-head mistake that caused a major problem that took some=
 rather high level trouble shooting to isolate.  The final moment of clarit=
y came with the Ben's clever observation of, "Hey what does this disconnect=
ed wire go to??"

Well friends, the disconnected wire in question is a rather innocent-lookin=
g blue w/ black wire that is supposed to connect to the little lightbulb be=
hind the headlamp switch.  There are two wires that are supposed to be atta=
ched there and thus was the reason it was not an obvious spot.  If you all =
are interested in how this little wire can cause an alternator not to funct=
ion(10 points if you know where this is going, Richard, Huw) than I invite =
you to read on and please open your bibles to the beginning of the wiring d=
iagrams.

There are but two wires connected to the alternator.  The heavy red wire th=
at goes to the starter/battery and then the blue exciter (D+) wire.  This h=
ad previous had been mistated as a ground signal, but as was pointed out it=
 actually carries a positive signal.  I am not going to get into particular=
s about what it does internal to the alternator.  Everytime I try to unders=
tand it I start to get a piercing headache.

If you follow this wire past the oil pressure switch it eventually leads to=
 track 137, I believe.  if you make it to there you will be able to see whe=
re it connects to the Headlamp switch light.  from there it goes to the idi=
ot lights, there is where it becomes important.  Evidentally this connectio=
n through the "alternator warning lamp" is essential to provide a voltage r=
eference to the alternator, as I understand it.

This was discovered when we were told that if the "Alternator warning lamp"=
 did not light when the  car was being turned on, then there was something =
wrong.  So after I installed the new alternator and checked to make sure th=
at I had no current draw(my clock fuse has been removed, along with everyth=
ing else, due to troubleshooting).  I went to try and start the car and con=
firmed that I had no warning lamps, now who is the idiot:-)  Hey mutt do yo=
u think this wire goes to sumptin'.  I then back traced the disconnected wi=
re and found it was in that circuit.  A little solder and a few minutes lat=
er vroom!!! 13.5V.

As it turns out this all started long ago.  When I bought the car I guess t=
he headlamp switch had gone bad and it was replaced with one from an '85 4k=
 so the wonderful mechanic had simply cut the wires to the connector and wi=
red in the working switch.  When I acquired that car I refitted the correct=
 switch and had to resolder all of the connections.  Well it seems that one=
 of the pigtails that was still attached to the connector let go after I pu=
t it all back together.  Who would have thought that a power wire attached =
to an LED could cause all of this trouble.

Please feel free to correct me with the proper information.  I am having a =
hard time focusing because, "Guess what?  My car works!!!"

-Sean
'84 Coupe GT WE