454LS6

Hello guys! Having a bit of trouble here. I fear i might have caused damage to my motor in form of overheating, but i am not certain. I am not used to mechanical works, just starting to learn to have courage to take things apart on my car, and to work on it on my own.

Some of you might call me an idiot, but i just have the desire to sleep well at night.

I have had my c3 put away during the winter, changed the oil on it, did some minor repairs on it and so on. And so today, i had the car out and drove about 30 miles with it. When i turned the ignition after parking the car 15 miles from home, i noticed that the starter didnt want to spin. I knew already then that it must be the alternator but i managed to start the car and i just wanted to get home so i didnt had a look at the alternator.

When returning home, i noticed (picture 1) that the red (+) cable had fallen off the socket in the alternator, the socket must have been bad or something. What bothers me really much is that there is a belt on the alternator, connected to another wheel down below. Since the alternator it self wasnt electrically functioning, could this have affected something else in return due to the belt and the wheel? I guess the belt pulls something else, like the water or oil pump. I asked my girlfriend to have a look at all three wheels when i turned the key and they all apparently was going around, from what she said she could see. So perhaps the waterpump and/or oilpump was functioning during the time i was driving without the alternator on, what do you think?

I can´t trust the gauges on this one, except for the oilpressure gauge which seems to function correctly. I had pressure of about 60 when driving. The watertemp was a bit over 100 degrees f, sounds little to me, so according to the gauges i should not have had any troubles with the oilpump or waterpump due to the alternator not electrically functioning. But i am still deeply worried if i might´v overheated the engine in any way. Is there a possibility?

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So to sum up this wall of text into a short sentence. Do i risk having troubles with the waterpump, oilpump, etc with the alternator unplugged?

Question #2

I measured the red alternator powercable to 11,7 volt when unplugged to the alternator, i should get a reading of about 13 right? It cant be the alternator being bad since it wasnt even plugged to it when measuring, right? Perhaps its the battery being too drained so it cant deliver more than 11,7 at the time? Or is the cable bad?

Engine: 454 LS6
Alternator: Delco Remy

MelWff

the alternator not running will only drain the battery. That clip on the end of the wire should have a small tab that locks the clip into the plastic connector. If the tab is still there pry it out just a little and reinsert it into the plastic connector.

Mashman

It's OK. Everything is fine.

It sounds like you are thinking that the alternator is powering the belts to turn the water pump? It's actually works the other way. The crankshaft turns the waterpump, and all the other accessories.

The only damage you may have done might have been to the battery, and the alternator - but I doubt you did any damage. That may have occurred if the cable shorted out against anything.

As you can see, the red cable is hot all the time. Disconnect the negative battery cable (or both to be safe), and make sure you connect the alternator correctly.

Also, you temperature gauge does not appear to be working. If the gauge is original, it may be that the sensor in the drivers side head may have been replaced, and it not correctly calibrated to gauge. If the gauge temperature gauge in the dash is the original one, I would try ordering a new sensor from one of the vendors.

Confirm that the reading in the car is incorrect first. Get an IR temp sensor, and after the car has reached operating temperature, check the reading on the water outlet housing, it should be somewhere between 180-210 degrees F.

dannyman

Disconnect the negative from the battery before doing anything.

Re-connect the red at the alternator and charge the battery. Once charged re-connect the battery ground and start the engine. Voltage from alternator should be close to 13.6.

You have not caused any damage to the engine by this failure. At worse case it will have discharged the battery. Charging the battery should take care of that.

You should have had a dash light "bat" to indicate that you had a battery/alternator issue. You should confirm that that light is functioning.

Again, do not be concerned that you caused any damage to the engine.




Dan

cv67

You have a healthy LS6 Vette
Go have a drink with your girl life is good.

Freight

You are good to go!!!!! Keep the Vette clean and she will be good to you!!!

454LS6

Wow, thanks guys. You certainly are the best. Thank you really really really much!

The plastic connector that goes in the alternator seems to be worn and broken, i could need a new one but i cant find them on the delco remy website. Does anyone know what they are called? perhaps they are used on other stuff and can be found on more universal sites like summit racing?

The clip on the end of the hot wire seems to be the wrong one as well, you guys know the name on the clip that should be the correct one?

Current plan is to get a new plastic connector, new clip on the wire, measure voltage, try to fix my gauges.

If you guys could help me with my two questions above, it would help me alot. Right now im just glad i did not harm my engine, thanks

454LS6

Here are two alternator plugs from Summit. Perhaps one of them will fit in my delco alternator.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RNB-85841/ "Dorman Wiring Connectors"

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/RFW-AR4/ "Ron Francis Wiring Connector Housings"

The ron francis one looks like mine abit, still unsure of what sort of clip to use though. I´ve read there are male and female clips, is it the male type that has this tab that locks the clip in place in the plastic connector?

noonie

All you need is this.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFF-7520A/

All local autoparts store carry them here, it might be available over there. Same clip as you linked to, but with pigtails.

With a charged battery you will get ~13.6v. If it needs charging, you can get anywhere up to ~14.7v.

454LS6

Shouldnt the voltage number measured on the hot cable clip that goes into the plastic connector be less than 13,6 when the battery needs to be charged? Like my readings on 11,7.

what is the difference on female and male cable clips that goes into the alternator plug/connector? I am uncertain of what i have on the first picture i linked showing the alternator and the red cable. Talked to a guy that sells for delco and he told me he would order me a connector. There should be this tab that locks the clip into place in the connector, does this tab appear on the female or male version of the flat clips?

also, there is a A & B on the connector, now i would not want to mess anything up. Which one should be for the red cable in picture one? I was dumb enough to not pay attention to which one it was on from the beginning. What does those letters mean?

some of the last questionmarks i have above my head, would appreciate it veeeery much if anyone of your could help me with this one as well.

MelWff

the plastic plug fits into the alternator only one way. You need the plug with the wires already attached and splice red to red and brown or white to brown or white.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFF-7520A/

noonie

Those are the charging voltages measured on the large "bat" post when the engine is running.