Life Chef said, school is way more important than any truck..

You are gonna love that FSM...great bunch of pups

 

Alright I ordered me some parts to finish my wire upgrade for the alternator. I ordered a battery connector with multiple inputs, which I almost crapped myself when I found it, I had no idea they even made these. http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...n-BT0288P.html It has hookups for the starter, alternator, and ignition/guage wires. Freakin awesome . Keeps me from having wire splices and connections everywhere. Also ordered 2 foot of 2 gauge red welding wire with a connector for the alternator and a boot cover from http://www.remybattery.com/Default.aspx. Got all of these parts for $30 shipped! I had already upgraded my negative battery cable and starter cable to 2 guage so this should complete it. All thats left is to remove the external voltage regulator and wire the old harness to the new alt.

 

83, DANG! That thing is NICE, I likey! Not sure how the main post fixes on there.... I see that angled allen set screw there ... but I dont see how that would tighten the terminal ring around the battery terminal post. OBVIOUSLY it works, somehow, ahaha... Just curious if you knew how it did THAT part.

I would grab one too... Just have to now find a way to justify it! hehehe.

 

It took me a bit to figure it that out. If you look closely at the picture of the bottom yoy can see a slit on the side where that angled allen head is. Allows it to tighten up on the post.

 

I forgot to mention that some of those battery connectors had built in volt meters to that display on the terminal. Pretty sweet.

 

Wow, ... I'll fish a bit more for that 'volt meter' version... that's SICK! Might let you try it out and see if it's quality(Sorry bud, ... you're gonna have to be the guinea pig in this one! hahaha).

 

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...y-Scosche.html

Voltmeter terminal is cool and all but that's a little to fancy for my taste. I would like to see it working however.

 

I think have figured out the correct way the alt harness up. As you know the GM alt has a 4-wire harness and I don't need the stator wire. The other three are ignotion, charge, and sense. For the ignition I am using the red wire leaving the voltage regulator, for the sense is the white with the black stripe from the original alt harness, and for the charge light I can use the yellow wire from either the old alt harness or the voltage regulator since they both tie into the charge light circuit. I found a lot of info for doing this on 84+ second gen trucks but not really any on 1st gens. Can anyone confirm what I am thinking on the wiring?

 

its ok, loving school and have a lead on a daily first gen, im down, but not out yet

 

There is a first gen for sale in Memphis for $3500 that looks pretty clean.

 

Removed the voltage regulator and associated alternator harness' tonight and wired the new alt harness up. All I need now it my battery terminal connector to come in the mail and to get a wire for the alt to the battery.

 

So I hooked everything up and tested the alt and it doesnt look good. Have 13.6V with the truck off and after I start the truck the voltage drops to 12.3V so that aint good.

 

how far is memphis from nashville? im heading up there january for school, def need a wheeling buddy

 

Its 3 1/2 hours so not to bad.

 

Sorry to hear, man... what's the deal??? I thought that alternator tested fine? GRRR!

 

No I never tested the electrical part of it. Not vert smart on my part.

 

Well, live and learn, buddy.... sorry bout that, SUX!

 

Its ok I just made some money fixing heat/air for someone and I got enough to buy a new one.

 

Alright guys I am having problems with this install and really need some help. I wired everything to the alt. The truck starts fine and hits high/warm-up idle but it never quits when the engine temp gets warm. The charge light and brake light are both staying on and the battery has less voltage after the truck is started. Im pretty certain the alternator is wired up correctly. From the voltage regulator harness I used the red for ignition and yellow for the charge light circuit. And for the "sense" I ran it straight to the battery post. Triple-checked all this in my FSM and seems right. Now when the key is turned to the ignition position but no engine on I get voltage on the sense and ignition wires but none on the charge wire. I would chalk all this up to a bad battery or bad alt but the idle thing makes me wonder otherwise. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Were gonna def have to wheel when I get up there the first part of January, if I keep my rig that is, might sell for a 3rd gen runner or a z71, more reliable on the interstate