CreativeIndy

Maybe I am confused here, but I thought if the key is in the off position the "Batt" post on the back of alternator should not have any current present correct?

The issue I am having is my battery is going dead over night as well as now when I hit the brakes my front drivers turn signal lights up. The only 2 things I have done recently to affect this was a new column installed and a new alternator installed. I have my choke on the holley hooked to the alternator as I have read on various forums that's the best place to hook it to when going from a heat tube style to aftermarket intake/carb.

I have read the turn signal light coming on by brake could be ground, flasher, or column switch issues which I will tackle that after I figure this alternator issue out.

The wiring in this car is a mess due to the PO trying to play mechanic. Ever since I have owned the car with the key off I can place the ground on and it sparks giving the impression something is "turned on" or hot on the car with ignition off. Now this could be something simple like a hot to a radio or a clock, but I am running neither at this time.

For the life of me I can't figure out the **** poor wiring the PO has going on. I mean he has the blower motor rigged to mid speed when key is turned, and he had rigged up a push start for some off reason. I imagine he did the push start because of the neutral switch and the cable on the column not being hooked up correctly when I got the car. I have since removed the push starter and wired the ignition back correct where he had cut into it.

Any help troubleshooting is appreciated.

Thanks.

ezobens

Bat Terminal on the alternator is always hot (12 Volts).
If you have the electric choke connected to this terminal, it's always on-
Not sure who would recommend to wire it that way???
Choke needs to be on the ignition (switched) circuit.
Sounds like you have a bad ground or something is messed up with the column wiring.
Elm

Shark Racer

Whoever told you to hook it up to the alternator charge wire hates you.

You will see a battery drain and your choke will always be "hot".

flyeri

Check this thread for wiring diagram foryour car. It will show why the alt is hot. The choke has to be connected to switched power source and having it hooked to the alt is very likely your problem. Don't feel bad, mine was a mess too when I got it, expecially behind the dash. The sad part is that someone who should have known better had done the work. I think it was Bubba, or his twin, Bubba.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...or-anyone.html

CreativeIndy

I never said anywhere above that I had the choke hooked to the Batt wire. I simply asked if the batt terminal was always hot. I do have the choke hooked to the alternator however I have that wire going to my pressure switch and then that goes into my choke. I have checked the pressure switch to make sure it is working correctly and it does cut when ignition is off.

A google search will show you about 5000+ threads on this. Matter of fact, it's the way GM supposedly hooks it up?

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/elec...ke-193337.html

I have it hooked it just like the diagram with a relay.

CreativeIndy

Also, maybe you guys are reading to much into my first post. I did not say my battery was going dead due to the choke. The choke works fine hooked to the alternator and the relay as described. Well, let me rephrase, it's worked fine until this new alternator/column was installed. Before either of those when I would get in, hit the key I would hear the choke close and it would fire up on a single hit.

Not so much anymore since installing the 2 things.

CreativeIndy

The following is a quote from the hot rod forums, it's also in the 442 wiki on how to wire an electric choke as well as the classic camaro wiki and several others. Apparently this is the standard method to wire an electric choke on GM vehicles. I have mine wired as described in method 1 and up until the new Alt/Column it's worked flawlessly. I do not think, wait, I will change this, I know this isn't the issue on the battery drain as I left this unplugged this past weekend and the battery was still dead on Sunday morning.

So like I asked above, the issue is elsewhere but like the original question, I thought the plug on the alternator had no hot unless the key was turned on? But I guess that wouldn't make sense in that it goes directly to the battery to charge it.

CreativeIndy

Man that thread is well into the 100's of pages HAHA. I said it above in my other replys but the choke isn't whats causing the battery to go dead. I did have it unplugged on Sat night as I had the carb off and when I hit the key Sun afternoon the battery was dead again. So something besides the choke is causing the issue.

The only 2 things I have done to cause this was as mentioned above, the column and the alternator replaced. The alternator is a tad different that what was on there originally. However I can't see an alternator making that big of a difference in that it causes my battery to go dead and my front blinkers to now come on when hitting the brake.

I was mainly asking about the Batt terminal as I was checking how I had things hooked up and I put a meter on it and I had power. I had this assumption that the alt was dead unless key was on but now that I think about it that would not make sense as there would have to be a switch in between the alt and the batt on that line to cut it off. I did just go down and check after reading my previous comments and I put a meter on the choke it's self with batt hooked up as it's always been. With key off I get 0 volts. With key to on and not running I am at 12.9.

So something else is the culprit to why the battery is going dead.

Anyone think that possibly something in the new column is causing a constant on or drawing power some how? Like I said, I have no radio, clock, or anything that needs power and unless the 76 has something on constant hot besides those few things mentioned than I have no clue what it could be.

ezobens

We can only go by what was posted-
You said initially:
"I have my choke on the holley hooked to the alternator"
If you would have stated more accurately that it was connected to the OIL PRESSURE SENDER, we would not have questioned it. We can only respond to the information given- right, wrong or otherwise.

Since it sounds like (if I am reading this correctly) that your issues started with the column install, that is most likely the area you need to focus on. Either the column is mis-wired, not properly grounded or you have another short that was introduced during the install operation.
Get a factory schematic and start tracing. If the wiring is really that butchered, consider replacing the harness. There are many vendors out here that sell them.

Shark Racer

...and maybe I've found a poster I shouldn't make an attempt to help again.

Connected to the charging post and connected to the opposite side of an oil pressure switch are two very different things.

CreativeIndy

More power to you if you feel that way.. in no way did I come off as an a-hole to anyone and if you feel I did then maybe you need thicker skin. I responded to comments with comments. Again, when I post a considerable amount of text and only 1 small line of that refers to a random "My choke is hooked to the alternator" that had no tie back to the issue I am having outside of battery going dead, I simply stated I had the choke hooked to the alternator.

I honestly think I was going to explain what all I had hooked up and never finished the sentence as it was no relevant to any of the issues I was having as I already knew the choke wasn't causing the issue. My apologies for leaving that line in and then going further to give examples to those saying hooking the choke to the alternator was dumb. I guess I thought everyone knowledgeable enough to answer the type of question I asked would assume or at least ask if there was a relay or switched device in place or if I had it hooked up properly to the oil sender (which I do) which is common practice on an extensive line up of GM vehicles.

So pardon me if I responded back with references that included images and a link to article describing the wiring methods. I guess in the future I need to assume everyone reads things as they are and may not be capable of thinking outside the the statements made. I guess to me, when someone says, for example, "I have the dist hooked correctly to the battery" that they have it hooked up correctly and not coming straight off the battery but rather off the ignition wire to the batt plug on the dist. However I guess I can see where others would take that as a literal statement and assume the poster does in fact have a wire straight from the battery to the dist.

Thanks for the answers above and the obvious responses. I was really looking towards those who had the same issues as me in that they either installed a new alt or column and experienced strange discharge or lighting issues outside of the 20 or so topics I found through search before I posted. I had already checked and double checked typical issues like grounds and plugs on the column, lights and flashers. Outside of installing the original alternator and column I am not sure what else to check or try. As stated above before the 2 items mentioned(Alt/Column) the battery never went dead and I have not wired, re-wired or otherwise hooked anything else up that was not already hooked up with the exception of hooking together each side of the ignition wire the PO cut in to install a push start.

Thanks again.

bpassmore

May I wade in to this? Front lights come on when brakes are applied.
Check the hazard switch, if it is on the stop light power will go to the front and back lights when the brakes are applied. If there is no fuse in the hazard circuit or no hazard flasher installed the stop light power will still go to all the lights (front turn and rear stop/turn) if the hazard switch is on.

You would be better off connecting your choke wire to the power wire on your windshield wiper motor I believe it is the yellow wire.

ezobens

So let me get this straight-
You are "assuming" we know what you are talking about and then you go into long winded threads complaining that we can't read your mind or intent based on the erroneous information given?
If the choke was an irrelevant piece of information, why even bring it up?
All we can "assume" is that you are providing relevant information. Don't flame us if you can't put your thoughts into words succinctly.

There are MANY people on these forums with varying degrees of knowledge and talent- You CANNOT assume anything on a 40 rear old car or the talents of an unknown poster.
I'm with Shark Racer-
If you're as talented as you claim, why even post this question? This seems to be a no-brainer troubleshooting exercise for anyone with a meter and a basic understanding of electrical circuits.

Best of luck in resolving your issues.

CreativeIndy

yea I read something else about the hazard flasher relay causing this issue. I am going to check this when I get home. I did turn the hazards on last night and they blink on all 4 corners. However, if I have Hazards on, and I hit brake only the rear brakes light up as they should. If I turn off Hazards and hit brakes the 2 rear lights and the front drivers turn signal and the dash signal light up. The Passenger signal doesn't light up though. Only when turning on Hazards.

I did read a few places where people suggest to hook the choke to the wipers but generally on those threads several people have commented that this is a no no for some reason as it will put power to the choke at the wrong time or something. The choke as it is on the car works fine, I can't complain about how it's wired. Car generally fires up fast and on the first hit and idles superbly.

Thanks for the info on the hazards thats the first thing I am going to run down when I get off work. I'll stop and buy a new flasher for turns and hazard as well as a few bulbs. I read some where that a blown bulb can reak havok.

CreativeIndy

Your getting WAY to deep into this pal... Let it go man unless of course you absolutely need to feel accomplished by playing the bigger ******* game. In which case I'll be the bigger man and say you win so I don't have to read your ramblings any more. If you have an issue with what I say then don't read anything I post. Isn't it that simple? Or am I assuming to much here as well? I never claimed to be talented with ANYTHING. I simply do what most should do and research when I have an issue with something. I generally ONLY post when I feel maybe something so simple is more complex than I understand and I missed something. Which is the case on this particular instance. I thought I went through every part of what in relation to the cause of the issues but I thought maybe, on a 40 year old car I missed something as simple as a relay. Or perhaps someone with the same identical issue could spread some light as they went through this priot.

Again, I apologized for assuming as my thought pattern is different than most. I even stated why that single sentence was even in the original post. I had originally intended to get more deep into everything by posting what all is hooked to the Alternator and more. I deleted quite a bit of text I had when I was typing the original post. I then felt it was irrelevant as I had already tested the choke for the discharge issue. I explained this and of course you STILL have to play pissing match. I guess I should not assume you never have made a mistake in your life eh?

You seem to be going off on me for assuming however you seem to be assuming quite a deal yourself. It's almost a pot meets kettle situation with you. Please, I have asked nicely, just let it go man save the BS for someone who cares enough to read it. It's not worth either of our time to **** over something so trivial as this.

Shark Racer

I'd hate to see what asking rudely is.

There's no way to make a logical leap from "I connected the choke to the alternator" to "I connected the choke to the opposite side of a pressure switch."

You started turning this into a pissing match.

If you'd said, "I'm sorry, what I meant to say was that it was connected to the alternator through an oil pressure switch", we'd be in a different place.

I'm not mad, I don't care about the relative sizes of our manhood, I'm posting this in the hopes that you'll be a little more polite in future posts.

You simply can not say that we're starting a pissing match when you respond the way that you do.

The quote above is the equivalent of saying, "I'm sorry I insulted you, you immature, argumentative idiot."

Hammerhead Fred

This thread may help you troubleshoot.

Likely culprits are:
bad ground
bad flasher
bad alt voltage regulator (will also cause dead battery - slow drain)

I know it's for a 71 vs your 76? (based on your sig) but the troubleshooting steps are the same.

71scgc

HeHe, HeHe, he said *******...

Everyone, lighten up...

For real...
Carter

CreativeIndy

Fixed both of my issues if anyone finds this thread and has similar issues themselves.

bpassmore thanks for the point in the right direction. Turned out to be the flasher button itself on the column. Not quite sure what exactly the issue is inside the column as I have not torn it apart yet. I simply happened on to this by accidentally having my foot on the brake and I could see the light on the garage wall in the front signal and I was messing with the flasher button and I noticed the light go out. I looked behind and I still had brake lights. I let off the brake pedal and flashers did not flash. I thought well crap, now it's fixed but I don't have flashers. I little wiggle and my flashers came on. I shut them off and the front light started lighting up again with brake pedal. So some more wiggling and I was able to rid myself of the issue again. So it's probably more of a grounding issue if I had to guess. I can get my flashers to work now as well as stop the front signals from lighting when I hit the brake. I did verify my turn signals function properly so this will have to do for now until I can dig into the column and clean up the issue.

The battery going dead issue turned out to be a bad alternator. I eliminated the suspects one by one in way of unplugging the column first to see if I had draw followed by the alternator itself. With the column unplugged it went dead again. I took the alternator off and started inspecting and after a partial tear down I could see some copper touching the inner casement as well as the regulator was melted crisp.

I took the alternator back to Advanced and they explained that this has been an issue as of late with this vendor. They said in the past 2 months they have had what he said seemed like one a day come back dead on install or within a very short time after install. I still needed an alternator and they had one other on the shelf. I made them test it before I left and turned out it was dead also. We didn't tear it apart to check what was dead it was simply under charging by only putting out 3 volts on there test station.

So for now I put back on my stocker which nothing is wrong with outside of being the original and very dirty from being 37 years old. Not that I would normally mind it's looks but with a nice clean engine and lots of dress up parts, this grime ridden thing looks out of place. Brake cleaner on the outside made an improvement but I didn't want to chance any getting on the inside so it only got partially cleaned. Thanks for the help.

CreativeIndy

Yes sir! Thanks for posting this. I had actually came across this thread the other night after bpassmore mentioned something about flashers. Some good info in there. Gave me some direction on where and what to try.