I put in the new Gold Plated regulator from Classic Industries, the results we the same.
Dim Glowing Gen Light!
I removed the plastic harness tape to the 12volt splice to give it a visual and it look factory fresh with solder and crimp. No problem with this crimp.
Dim Glowing Gen Light!
I replaced
1. Alternator. 2. Gold Plated Regulator from Classics. 3. Circuit membrane on Speedo cluster. 4. Cap to regulator. 5. Connector to Alternator. 6. Ignition switch.
I guess what’s left is the light bulb, and regulator connector. I will find the proper bulb with the right filament.
As I sit here and think about it (which is dangerous) I am going to pull all the fuses and see if that has any affect on the outcome.
The only item left on the bucket list is the orange Thermo HW wire on pin 3 of the regulator. Upon inspecting the splice I noticed that the wire is pretty ratty.
When inspecting the fuse block the snap terminals are rusted that hold the fuses in place. I do not think that has any bearing unless there is a voltage loss due to corrosion at the fuse. I am atempted to take a look behind this block and see if there is any more rust or corrosion.
Well I am pulling the Alternator to take back to Car Quest for an exchange. The battery post thread has messed up. They supplied a nut that was not the proper thread size and now it is stripped.
Vikki "Yellobird" supplied me with a drawing that shows the accessories layout. This will help me solve the relay clicking tied to the coil on the regulator.
The drawings show a relay for the power window and one for the A/C.
When I get the parking brake off I then can get to the relay and disconnect it and see what it powers.
I put the new alternator in today, the Gen light still dimly glows.
I pulled out all the fuses and broke the on to the instrument panel, replaced it with a 5amp. With all the fuses out the gen light was full bright on. This is because the regulator is giving out 12volts when running and finding a ground.
Put all the fuses in and still the same problem Gen light glowing
Next to the last item I changed the lamps out to the proper bulb a #194 for the parking lamp and the Gen light.
Gen Light is out?????????
I am lost to why.
I know that when the regulator is working, it is sending 12 volts to the lamp. The instrument housing gives 12 volts to the common buss. The two voltages cancel out each other and no lamp is lit. When the regulator fails, it gives a ground and lights the lamp.
These lights and gauges do not pick up a ground off the instrument housing.
This is at idle.
1. The Voltage Regulator or Gen Light (brown wire) is putting out 14.26 volts to pin-2 and has a wire to the ignition switch. 2. The supply voltage (pink wire) pin-6 is at 14.06 volts. 3. Parking brake/brake light (tan wire) pin-3 gives a ground. 4. The oil pressure (blue/white wire) pin-5 gives a ground. 5. The temperature light (green wire) pin-8 gives a ground; it has a wire to the ignition switch. 6. The fuel gauge (tan wire) pin-7 gets its voltage from pin-6
I do not have the Temperature sensor or the oil pressure sensor lamps hooked up. They are tied back at the motor. I can give grounds at the leads and light the lamps except the temperature lamp. I can light the lamps at the connector at the back of the instrument housing.
Well I got to think on this a bit. I will put back everything and see what happens.
Without that whole front harness having a good ground (either side of the rad support) your going to be chasing electrical havoc. Start putting the system back together one at a time and worry about problems when you are done. I ran an additional ground strap directly from the horn relay ground point to the subframe...just for good measure.
Just a heads up on that drawing I gave you , I found three errors.
1. Cluster harness look at pin-6 then at the discription.
2. The wire color for the Idle Solenoid is not pink in the engine compartment (mine anyway).
3.look at the alternator to the horn relay, the wire should be spliced to the regulator to battery. Also the regulator pin-3 should have a orange thermo wire with fuse link.
If you get a chance try and make sure that the lights in you cluster are the correct ones. I put new #194 lamps in and everything went normal, that or the problem went underground.
Cool, thanks for the corrections. I'll double check my harness to see if I can confirm the same info. Didn't get a chance to work on the car this weekend. Went looking for a new truck.
I'll also check the bulbs. Thanks for the heads up.
I started a new post on LED bulb replacement for the lamps in the speedo cluster. I will explore that to see about brightness and how it will interact with the Gen Light issue.
I know that this does not relate to this post but I finally got to go to Crosby, Stills & Nash Concert last night. Got my kitchen pass renewed for the weekend and will post the results of putting back the wiring and cable harness.
I hope to get the LED's in the mail today and will check the porch when I get home from work.
I got most of the wire harness tie-wrapped; this is a temporary fix till I get the harness tape.
I am debating in using tech-tubing which would dress it up a bit. I know the purest fans will not like that approach, but I will still tape it to dress the wires till I make my mind up.
The results was interesting, the earlier post where I replaced the lamps was way out there but that was not the cure-all for this problem. When I finished the harness and got the Speedo cluster installed (less the speed odometer cable) and the ignition switch put back in the dash everything worked as it should.
I then put the Speedo cluster into the dash and everything went TANGO-UNIFORM.
The (edited) flicking-cluck-fluster chicken (edited) ……..Gen Light came on!!!
Back to square one, checked connectors, checked even the fuses and made all the ground checks. What was weird was the brake light was dim and the gen light was same intensity. Both lights were not the full on maybe ¾ intensity. So fiddle & faddle around and around wiggle & waggle looking for the fail. The Gen Light was on….check and rechecked and triple checked…TU Gen Light!
I know that I need +12+/- volts from the regulator to pin-2 on the instrument housing.
I know that I need +12 +/- volts to the instrument housing on pin-6
With these two conditions met the light goes out as they cancel each outer out till a ground appears from the regulator.
With the engine off and on the floor leaning back against the car looking at my drawing and tracing the wiring again! Upon finishing my soda I started the car and everything was normal???? Started and stopped the engine 12 times all normal.
The next time this fails, I am in the process of making a pigtail for the instrument housing cable to check voltages. The cable harness is too short to get a meter on the back plane of the housing. With the pigtail I can take voltage reading with a couple of VOM’s and see real time voltages.
The one item that I might have a issue with is the fuel tank sender. This takes the common +12 volts thru a resistor & gauge to the tank float to ground. My luck the +12 will bypass the whole bit and spark in the tank and Boom……………….at least I will be doing what I like.
Working on a simple drawing to trouble shoot the section the Gen Light is wired to. You would not believe how many parasitic leads are involved. The one brown wire from the regulator is tied to Gen Light which has roots in the Brake Light, Temp Light, Oil Light, Fuel Gauge, Fuel Sender, Ignition switch and Fuse Panel......Which feeds............
I did some testing on LED's (see LED Post) that I am going to use in the Instrument Cluster.
I am now learning about Fuel Guages and Fuel Senders as it is tied to the +12v the Gen Light is on.
I'm wondering how close this picture would be for troubleshooting. I like a good simple drawing to start with. I would put an amp-meter in line with the bulb and start isolating the current leak. Pull fuses until it goes away. Pull dash bulbs until it goes a way. See if you can isolate the current draw to the cluser or outside the cluster. Good luck we are all rooting for ya.
I went as far to replace the iginition switch. I checked the wires in the connector to make sure that they still are crimped and firmly seated to the switch.
I wish that it was the problem, I would move onto other areas I need to work on.
Sorry Gang Work has me real busy and my free time is limited till the end of next week. Add that up with obtaining a kitchen pass from the wife.........
I will continue this chase for the arc's & Spark's
I do not think that this is the cure but it will look good. I think (which is dangerous) that the results of this problem will change with the installation of the Led. I am still looking too the Fuel gauge or wiring to the tank sensor as the problem.
