Alternator wiring help
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 378
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh NC
Alternator wiring help
Ok here is the deal; new battery, new 40amp alternator, same dead battery problem. I'm planning to upgrade to a 78 amp alternator so i can run my car at night (i also have TPI which sucks up some juice). The wiring was done by one of the 10 owners my car has had. I was cleaning up the wiring and saw that one of the two small wires that come out of the alternator side (guessing regulator) is tied straight to the battery, but i thought only the larger of the three wires goes to the battery? Anyway if someone has a wiring schematic of how these are supposed to be wired or can explain to me how to do this please let me know. Car is a 74 Stingray I already bought a bigger alternator and dont want to go to a single wire setup.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,825
Likes: 56
From: Shawano WI
Re: Alternator wiring help (nitrocharger)
On my 79 the large red wire and the small red wire (from the two wire plug) are connected together at the firewall bulkhead connector, and then to the battery cable on the starter solenoid. The small brown wire (from the two wire plug) is connected to the generator warning light in the dash and feeds power to some of the interior circuits. The heavy black wire is the ground and should connect to the chassis ground point by the radiator core support.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,407
Likes: 2
From: Carmichael CA
Re: Alternator wiring help (nitrocharger)
I checked the schematics in the Haynes manual and there is a small red wire connected from one of the side terminals to the battery terminal. My small red wire just has a loop terminal on it and it connects to the battery terminal on the alternator. The only wire that goes anywhere other than battery +/- is the brown wire from the other terminal on the side which goes to the IGN3 terminal of the ignition switch.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 378
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh NC
Re: Alternator wiring help (Rockn-Roll)
Alright , thanks guys! I just wanted to make sure that one of the smaller wires connected to the battery, why didnt GM just jumper the two at the alternator instead of using all that extra wire??? Anyway my 78 amp alternator will be on so hopefully it will pick up where my 40 amp left off. If anyone needs a 40 amp alternator let me know, it is only 4 months old.
