1 wire to 2 wire alternator

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crooked1/2dozen

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So...

I put a 2 field wire squareback alternator with electronic regulator into my '64 Valiant, originally a 1 wire with mechanical regulator. I ran the heavy gauge output to the starter relay, no problem. Alternator is grounded through its housing, plus I put a second ground from the engine to the car body. I ran a green wire from the field terminal farthest from the output directly to the green side of the new electronic regulator. Here is where it gets interesting. The field output closest to the alternator output was then wired to the other side of the regulator, and to the blue wire on the original ballast resistor. Other wiring diagrams show that this second field wire also hooks up to the brown ballast resistor wire, I haven't hooked this up yet, as some diagrams don't show this hookup. Any thoughts as to if this hookup should work????

Also, I've just put in electronic ignition, now my car won't start, that will be a new thread!!

TIA

Dan
 
If you are talking about the wire from the I terminal to the two brown wires on the 73 and 74 diagrams from MyMopar.com, then do not wire it like that. It will put 12 volts to the coil full time. Look at the 72 or 75 diagram, that wire is not there as well it should not be.
 
Steve68 said:
If you are talking about the wire from the I terminal to the two brown wires on the 73 and 74 diagrams from MyMopar.com, then do not wire it like that. It will put 12 volts to the coil full time. Look at the 72 or 75 diagram, that wire is not there as well it should not be.
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Thanks for your reply. I thought that was the case. I'll leave it the way that I have it.

Dan
 
nothingbutdarts said:
Did you get it running yet?
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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
 
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
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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!
 
nothingbutdarts said:
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!
Click to expand...

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
 
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