I wired up my mopar alternator in my 31 like the kwik wire wiring harness called for but I can't get it to charge. I have a new alternator , volage regulator and everything seems to be grounded. wondering how others in here with mopar alternators wired it up with a harness that is mostly designed for chevy onwore alternators. its a two field later style and everything seems correct. I think I may directly wire the alternator to its sources rather then going through the fuse box next to see if that changes anything
this is how they are supposed to be wired. Some aftermarket harnesses have an "excitor" wire that would be the one you use to get switched power to the regulator and field. Is this how you have it wired?
frame to engine ground? some early systems sho charge when needed only...may not be "callin' for juice yet papedog
I just went through the same deal..even tried a new alternator and v.r. I finally got pissed and built a bracket & installed a 1-wire GM alternator (yesterday). Works great, is cheaper and easier to replace, and IT WORKS!!
I have engine to frame ground and regulator grounded too. I still am going to try to witre it up different and if that dosen't work thatn I may switch to a one wire gm too. just seems eaier. maybe I can find a cheap one wire gm somewhere
if you have it wired up as shown it should work, if the alternator and regulator are good. the mopar system usually doesn't give any problems, at least not on the mopars I've had.
Squirrel is right, if yours is wired to his diagram it should work. The two field wires one should be hot (ign is tied to one terminal of the regulator also) the other from the regulator switches the field on and off for alt. output. Did you check for voltage at the regulator and the the field wire with the key on? If you have voltage at the reulator and one of the wires on the field then you should have your alt. and regulator checked at the parts store to see if either is defective. Also, your grounds need to be good for the reg and alt.
Having the exact same issue. Just rewired the car with a Quikwire kit, it worked before the re-wire but now wont charge. I have the field post of the regulator to field on the alt. I have tried with the "alt exciter" wire to the other (left) post of the regulator, have also tried grounding that post. Where am I going wrong?
Oh come on. It is a super set up and fool proof. Battery terminal to battery. One field wire to reglator , other field wire to other regulator terminal. Should take more then a couple of minutes to wire it. Three wires. System works as follows. Power comes at battery voltage to the alternator from the one field terminal. It is returned to the regulator through the other terminal which controls the ground circuit to regulate the alternator. That is the two wire mopar alt. The earlier system used a single wire and one brush was grounded at the alternator. Otherwise the alternators are identical but the regulators are not. If I was there 5 minutes from now it would be charging. There has never been a more reliable easier system to hook up and use. I must say though I have no idea why folks buy wiring kits. Wiring a hotrod is a pretty simple deal. don
This is my single field alt. wired fld to fld on regulator. Grd to grd. Batt to batt. There are two posts on my regulator, one to field as mentioned above, and the other to wiring kit wire named "alternator exciter"...I've also tried grounding that post and leaving out the exciter. No charge either way...I'm missing some fundamental knowledge here. For my first time complete wire job the harness really helped me do a nice clean job, only downfall so far is this charging issue, but I get where you're coming from. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
ok. I need a better picture of the back of your alternator There seems to be something missing but it may be just out of my view. I have two of those here. One terminal on the regulator goes to field. The other needs battery power from the ignition switch on position. I will be away in the morning but will check for the pic as soon as I get back. Relax. I will help you through this. It is a good system and once you get a handle on it you will never look back. We shall over come this minor obstacle in you project. don
Hope this view helps. Not sure about this exciter wire I have hooked to the regulator, I had assumed it was acting as the + from the ignition but maybe not. I wonder if I leave that alt executor wire out and just run a new wire straight to the ignition if that will fix it? On the regulator, exciter wire is left, field is right, grounded to firewall. Thanks for your help! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
ok same as my 63 Dodge. first the field wire on the alternator. is that screw on the wire insulated with a plastic spacer? if it isn't it should be. So make sure there is power coming into the regulator, key on. That is your first project. If there isn't make it so. Next prove the wire from the reg field terminl to the alternator field terminal . You can unhook it at both ends and test with an ohm meter . If that proves out make sure the field is insulated from the screw that your terminal is under with a plastic spacer. If that proves good let me know and I will go the rest of the way with you proving the alternator. If I confuse you just say so and we will fix it with some other description. When we are done you will be an expert. don
I think you're onto something with this field screw being insulated. Am I missing some kind of connector to the alt field terminal? What type of connector should I be using on the field wire? Really appreciate the lesson Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Your missing the insulated male spade connector on the field connection, attaching the field wire to the screw just grounds the 12v out of the regulator. It wont work that way. You need to enlarge the hole in the ring connector so it fits around brown plastic insulator and contacts the brush holder and only the brush holder, you'll need a small fiber washer to insulate the ring connector from the screw.
Ok, I switched to a larger ring connector and added a thick plastic washer to hold the connector in tight. Still no joy. Damn, i really thought that would do it! I verified 12V to the regulator. The field wire is brand new. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I think I may have run into a similar problem years ago. The alternator on my 64 Plymouth crapped out and the closest replacemt I could find was for a model a couple years newer. There was a slight difference between the two units. As I recall one style was refered to as "field circuit type A" and the other was a "field circuit type B" or something like that. I think my original alternator had the field circuit grounded internally in the case. The newer alternator had an extra terminal that a wire plugged into to ground the field at the voltage regulator, I believe. I just made a short jumper wire. plugged it onto the extra terminal and grounded the other end under a screw or nut on the outside of the alternator case. It's worked fine for years ever since. You might want to do a little investigating and see if your alternator has an internally or externally grounded field circuit. There's a bit of an explanation here. http://www.sinotruks.biz/blog/types-of-field-circuits.html
have you checked alt? fire up car and with view as in first pic of alt. touch screwdriver in center and see if it has magnetic pull, if it does its working, no pull repair or replace alt.
Ok you have verified the regulator wiring and have insulated the field brush terminal from ground. I will take a picture of how it should be in the morning for you. If all is good and you have power coming into the regulator from ignition you should be able to simply bypass the regulator with a jumper from the in side to the field wire and it should charge full tilt . A voltmeter is the device to measure. it should be on the battery. If it is charging voltage will rise as it runs. If there are issues with your field connection simply order a set of brushes from NAPA for a 64 alternator and everything you need should be in there. A mopar alternator unlike any other can have the brushes serviced from outside and in many cases can be done right on the vehicle if there is access. These are very tough alternators and as I sit here thinking I only remember one ever that had an internal problem. brushes was usually all they ever needed and I was at this as a profession for over 40 years. BTW cant say that for a delco 1 wire. Have had to fix many of them. Anyway to the morning when I will picture the proper set up for you don
Here is how it should look on the field connection that has the wire on it. The spade terminal is totally insulated from the case and the screw. The other brush on the single wire is grounded as is yours. don
Eureka! Jumping the regulator, it's charging! Removing the jumper, I added an extra ground to the regulator just to be sure...no charge. So I assume the regulator is shot? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Yup . As long as you jumped across the regulator(got your power from the exciter regulator side) then it is the problem. Good work! don
Alright!!! Down to autozone and they had the correct regulator right on the shelf. Threw it in and YAHTZEE, we're in the business of charging batteries! I'd guess my initial grounding of the field wire probably lead to the demise of the old regulator. Don, I can't thank you enough for the lesson, so happy I got this cool old Mopar charging system working instead of just throwing in a GM 1 wire. You're the man, and guys like you passing this info to the younger guys is what is going to keep this tradition alive. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Glad you are in business. Once you got the hang of it it didn't take you long to figure the rest out. Enjoy don
Agreed, well done. The Mopar charging system is very simple and durable as is their electronic ignition system.
BTW I aint into Cadillacs BUT I am into guitars and hillbilly music. I am the fiddler here. This was yesterday Re the Mopar electronic ignition. I agree. It is a good system too. I have done back to back tests on race cars(on cars I was involved with even if they had a fancy ignition system with a one or two step I always wired in a Mopar plug and installed a Lx101 Mopar box on the inside firewall in case of failure of the trick part. On more then one occasion different racers have told me it saved the day when the fancy part puked in final rounds. All to a man said the car ran the same ET and one even claimed an improvement although it may have been a weather change (cooler air late in the day. ) I run stock style mopar electronic on my own rail too. don
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