currently running a gm alternator in my 88 22r. haven't had any issues until i started putting the power steering components back in. while they were out i freed up the ground wire from the alternator loom and gave it a spot on the on the block for easier access instead of sharing the same spot on the block as the dipstick bracket. now that i relocated it back to the dipstick bracket tho (i put it behind the dipstick bracket against the block) i'm having charging issues with my alternator. getting 11.5v to 11.75v my charge light on my dash is working so i shouldn't have an issue of it being excited. i checked my main grounds, cleaned them up and then the charge light went away. next day charge light came on, but stayed on again, brought out the meter, back to the same issue. on the gm alternator i have terminal #1 leading to the yellow wire on the toyota harness. and terminal #2 i have it looped to b+ on the alternator. parts of my loom upon examining it does look a bit "baked" a crispy, so i'm worried its just old n stuff. my question i guess is, for the ones that change out the "big 3"... on the one going from alternator charge post to battery (+), are most ppl going 1/0 gauge wire and are they following the same path as the stock wiring with an ANL fuse hooked up near the battery? while doing all that i'm gonna redo all my ground wires this week too while i'm at it. and what 50 ohm resistor is recommended to wire in parallel just in case the charge light (alt light) goes out? the main article i was reading in yotatech doesn't specify a part # or anything. never bought/used/installed a resistor.
Radioshack, Frys, any electronic/computer store should have the resistor. As for the alternator if all electrical contacts are clean. I would inspect wire condition near the crimps of the terminal. On these trucks i noticed good body to batt (-), frame to batt (-), and engine block to batt (-) is very important. Me personally i also ground the head to the block.
ah thx for the reply. i'll check out frys for the that resistor, just wasn't sure if the wattage made a difference too. figured i'd splice it parallel to the alt light wire a lil farther up. should the resistor be covered with heat shrink afterwards or left alone?
Resistors will get create some heat as it simulates a load. You could try google some ideas on how to protect it. I know alot of 4x4 guys do this. Is this a GM 1 wire self exciting alternator?
Hes got a 3 wire. You can always do away with the extra 2 wires and just have it run as a single wire. Only bad thing is it wont start charging til after a certain rpm
Mine is a 3wire. Wouldn't need resistors on those 1 wires.. easier but then the alt light would always b on n they don't always charge so well at low rps/idle for some. Most of the stuff I've seen never shows pics of the resistor installed, but I'll try different criteria in my search n try hitting up the alternator tech support guys, maybe they know of a type of specific type/brand that's commonly used since they deal with these old GM ones a lot. Thx for the tips. So far I've just been making sure that the alt light works every time I turn my truck on n start it... not hard to change the bulb but just kind of a pain to to have a brand new setup b n battery go weak/dead cuz of a lil bulb burning out. Which reminds me... gotta change gauge cluster bulbs out.
Go over all the alternator wiring. And idk if you did it already but run a larger wire to the batt. More than likely its guna be a wiring/connection issue. Sand down the bolt locations where the grounds go, they gotta be clean
I ran a zero gauge to the battery. And all my grounds n contacts are uber clean. Even the bolts n threads. And yes I have learned long ago to remove the paint away from ground locations as cleanly as possible. Charging system is running very well... no issues at anymore other than I wanna do some preventive maintenance n all to some things like them bulbs n stuff.
