Not charging

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:37 pm

Ive got a 68 d100 its not keeping a charge i just had to replace the alt about 3 weeks ago had napa test it 3 times its come back good last week replaced the voltage regulater. the connections are good. But heres the back story. i got a bad alt from a junk yard it had a short in the system which fried my wire from the alt to the gauge inside. i looked and non of the wires are broke so i re taped them.

any ideas on why im not charging? im confused on this one.

Post by **Seabee** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 7:29 pm

If I remember right, if the alt guage itself gets toasted it will not charge. You might have to replace or bypass it.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:53 pm

I did the bypass not too long ago. Everything turned out fine, but the voltmeter goes over the top every once in a while...probably my regulator.
Do a search on the MAD wiring if you're going to bypass it.

A new gauge would probably work too. Everything runs through that gauge.

Jones · Post by **Jones** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:34 pm

Mavis,

Are you running points or electronic ignition? I have a spare voltage regulator for a points system if you need it? I could bring it to you Saturday. How about a 1 wire alternator?

Let me know and I can be there with toolbox in hand.

Keith

Jeffc · Post by **Jeffc** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:33 am

Is the gauge moving at all? assuming you did
not do a by-pass and the gauge is not moving>
the gauge may be bad----(not showing + or -
even after starting).
Yes a bad gauge will cause no charge to
go to the battery....

Keith- if you are in town drop by I have a
lot of good amp gauges if you want to take
one with you....

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 2:31 am

gauge dont work. it moves a tiny bit when the blinker is on but other then that after i fried it it doesnt move. tommorow im goin to have them check the voltage regulater. it should be alright i just bought it last week. i just got new gauges too but havent put them in i got the amp/oil pressure/ temp cluster. if not i hope i can by pass it. thanks again for all the help.

Post by **Seabee** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:17 am

The mad electrical bypass/rewire is awesome. Made a big difference in my system.
If you don't want to do all that, and just want to bypass until you get the new guage installed you can simply remove the wires from the amp guage, and nut them both together on one post of the existing fried guage.

Jeffc · Post by **Jeffc** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 1:34 pm

Just a thought, have you checked the regulator fuse?
will not charge with a bad one (its in the fuse box).....

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:37 am

so i replaced all fuses installed new gauge and im still not charging. the voltage regulater is brand new. i think i might have hooked up the gauge wrong though one wire goes to the alt and the other to the battery right? the instructions show it goin to the starter solenoid. im confused and i hate wiring things.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 8:12 am

Have you had your battery tested? I went through a charging ordeal not too long ago. I had my battery tested (by someone who apparently was unable to correctly operate the tester)and after replacing several components it turned out my battery was bad and not taking a charge.

One post on the gauge goes to the alt and the other to the relay/battery.

Jeffc · Post by **Jeffc** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:10 pm

If gauge moves, it's good.
has to be alt or battery and even new regs
can be bad.

By a cheap volt oms meter if you don't
have one.....engine running....
test large post on alt> should have 13 to 14
volts output,
then test at battery, should be about the
same....
If the above works, your ok on that side
of the system... and the battery is
the problem.....

if not>
wire off the reg (feild wire, green wire) that plugs into
the alt should have the same voltage that
battery has....if less than battery> reg is bad.
If volts are right there, then it's the alt
that is not putting out....

A real easy test, pull the + cable off when running..
if engine dies, it's the battery that is bad,,,,

cudajimmy · Post by **cudajimmy** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 7:56 pm

Trace your alternator wire where it goes into the firewall. I had the same problem a few years ago with a 69 and the wires were burned where they plug into each other at the firewall.

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:23 pm

turns out napa has been giving me the wrong regulater. they keep giving me a 34 amp regulater and i have a 60 amp alternator. so i now have the right regulater now lets see what happens.

now if i pull the + cable off the battery and it dies wouldnt that mean it was running off the battery?

Rusty_Quarters · Post by **Rusty_Quarters** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 11:05 pm

Thats the way I always heard it, if the engine dies with the + disconnected your alt or reg not charging. Try the jumper on the back of Volt meter, this is fairly common problem, I had to do mine a couple of weeks back, that was the solution. My gauge would move slightly ever now and then also, so when I hooked up my new gauges I bypassed the old one all together, and it works fine.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:18 am

What's the word?

MountainMoparRobin · Post by **MountainMoparRobin** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:29 am

On the pre-computorized engines if you have the engine runnin and pull off the + and it keep running that means the Altenator and regulator are fine, it cannot runn off the battery with the + disconected. On our trucks once the engine is started the altenator recharges the battery within the first 2 minutes, and supplies the vehicle with all the electrical needs until shut off, in the past, when checking the altenator one would start the vehicle and then remove the + if the vehicle stops runnin that means the altenator isn't workin

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:09 pm

so far i havent had any problems. i wired the old gauges wires together and hooked up the new one. so far so good. thanks for all the help.

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 12:34 am

so i got a little to excited too quick

still not charging. i think i have a break in the wires. i have checked those plugsand there melted but i can move the wires freely back and forth. so next step is get a volt/ohm meter and trace it. thanxs for all the help though.

Mavis13 · Post by **Mavis13** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:47 am

ok heres a update. i rewired the burnt wire i charged fine for about 2 weeks then the alternater went out.

so went back up to napa got another alternater same results 2 weeks later alternater went out again. so this time i went up to car quest i know a guy up there so after i left there he searched his books and what not and found the exact one i needed and also found out napa has been selling me a mid 90s alt. he also tested my charging system and its all complete

so hopfully no more problems with that. thanks all for your help.

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