1 wire to 2 wire alternator

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!

Thanks for your input. I got a braided ground strap from the wreckers the other day, it's attached with the ECU bolt, so I don't think that is an issue. I get 426 ohms on the pick-up. Sounds like I'm not getting enough voltage compared to yours. I'll check later for shorting. I checked the air gap, specs that I've seen say .008", that is right where mine is set.

Dan