Weird voltage issues (84 4kq)

[John B]

Hey folks,



Well Im continuing along with the 84 project. It was looking like I'd 
have to quit and sell the ol' girl but things have worked out (well, 
space that is!).



About a month back my alternator tapped out and left me on battery power
 to get home. I replaced the alternator, belt, and battery, cleaned up 
all the connections, rechecked belt tightness once ran and Im still 
having a weird voltage issue when driving (which werent there prior to 
my old alternator dieing)



At idle (or revving with no load on the motor, in neutral) voltage is 
fine. All lights are nice and bright. As soon as you put a load on the 
motor (begin to drive in first gear) you can see all of the lights 
(including my headlights and tail lights) dim. Again in neutral, I can 
rev to 4k rpm and have no dimming. When driving this morning I was able 
to narrow down the symptoms to as follows:



Idle or neutral, voltage OK with minimal flickers (if you blip the throttle it'll flicker just slightly)

starting off the line, lights dim as if there is a big draw

When in gear, if feathering the throttle down the highway the lights are
 bright. Give a touch more gas to hold at say 65mph and the lights all 
strobe slightly (dim, bright, dim, bright, etc), and if giving it the 
beans (WOT) the lights dim again as if there is a big draw. 



Cant seem to figure this one out.. again all components are new, but I 
did notice my old alternator had only 2 connections (small wire to small
 post, and BIG wire to big post). The new alternator had the same posts 
but also had a "B" connection on the back of it which I had no wire for.
 



Wrong alternator? Horrible ground somewhere? Insight greatly 
appreciated! Im in the SF Bay area and am worried if I drop it at a 
local shop I'll get destroyed on labor. 



Johnny

Pre95