1 wire to 2 wire alternator

crooked1/2dozen said
Not yet, but that's due to the electronic ignition "upgrade". I can't seem to get a spark. I've got the distributor removed, and don't get a spark when I spin the shaft. I read somewhere that I should get an approximately 1v or greater reading when the reluctor pulses, I only get 0.13v or so, I'm thinking that the old scrap yard distributor may need to be replaced. It's raining right now, and I'm doing this work in my driveway, so I'll wait for the weather to get better.

Dan

Dan,

The factory service manual says you should get between 150 ohms to 900 ohms at the pick-up connector. Of the 5 electronic units I have they range from 250 ohms to 440 ohms. You should also use the ohmmeter and make sure the pick-up and wiring aren't grounded to the distributor body. The pick-up air gap setting is .006" with a non-magnetic feeler gauge.

Voltage output as you mentioned. The service manual doesn't mention anything about this. However I did try two units, you have to use the volt A/C setting on the meter and I couldn't get a reading with my cheap meter as on the A/C scale it only has options for 200 & 500 volts A/C. I did however have a work meter "Fluke 88" and on the A/C "Auto Range setting" one showed .8v A/C and the other showed 1.3v A/C turning them by hand.

Another thing the manual says is check for a good ground on the ECU, for me the best way is with the ECU unplugged check pin #5 to the ECU body or better yet to the engine block. (pin #5 is when you are looking at the ECU, with the "heat sink & transistor" on your left side there will be two pins closest to the "heat sink" the big U shapped piece of metal. pin #5 will be the bottom of the two pins) It should be real close to zero ohms!