Ignition Circuit Voltage Drop…where to from here?
Good. Complete the ground ring with a wire from the alternator housing to the voltage regulator base. Many alternators have a round "GRD" hole on the back half of the housing. Use a self-tapping screw to secure a wire to it—make it a short one; a long screw could hit the rotor and ruin things.
Hey Dan, thanks for your info! I went ahead and added this ground like you suggested. My alternator actually had a GRND screw marked on it!
I am leaning very heavily on adding an igniton-loads relay.
Note that the remanufactured and "upgraded" original-style alternators you can buy at parts stores may have higher peak current output, but tend to have poorer-than-stock low-RPM output.
Speaking of remanufactured alternators...when I replaced my old one that shorted out, I was in a bind and...you guessed it, had to buy a remanufactured one from Advance Auto.
Oh, now check this out...
Del must really know his stuff - suspecting the ignition switch. I should also mention that when my first alternator fried, it burnt the wires all the way up to the switch, so I also do NOT have an ignition switch connector. All that is now hardwired.
A funny thing just happened...I went and fired up the car and noticed the key/switch felt funny. I BARELY touched it and went backwards out of RUN and turned off!
It seems like whatever "stop" (inside the switch), that was in place to differentiate between ACC/RUN/START is completely gone. What the hell?? What are the chances?! Oh well, better in my driveway than on the road I guess!
Well, looks like I'll be replacing the ignition switch, again. This will be the 2nd in 2 years, and I got this previous one from NAPA.
I really wonder now if this was the cause of my issue.
