Mrmerlin

I am rehabbing an 86 5 Speed and 2 things i have noticed .
When the key is turned on .
The warning light system blinks on for about 1 second then all the warning lights go out.
Not really enough time to tell whats working on the the warning light system.
Also the charge warning light wont come on,
I pulled the warning bulb out of the gauges ( this is a different gauge set than what came with car , it had a gauge set from 1983 with some 86 parts thrown in for a good measure) and inspected it it works.
Anyway i replaced the regulator as it was only charging at 13.2 the brushes were worn down and with fresh brushes the alternator is now making 13.9 V also the alternator wont start charging till the revs get to about 2500 rpm.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
No telling about the mods the PO had done but virtually every wire that the PO touched was stripped then twisted onto what ever connection was being made then taped with either green, or black elex tape or duct tape, no soldering or crimp connectors seemed to be in his tool box

JHowell37

Make sure the connectors for the warning computer below the dead pedal are firmly connected.

My '85 had a lot of loose wires when I bought it. The only thing at this point is to start to figure out what they're for, and begin to make repairs.

I can't remember, is the charging light powered through the resistor on the back of the cluster?

Sounds to me like a lot of the hacks were done to force the old cluster to work. The question is "why did the PO feel a need to scrap the old cluster and start from scratch?" I replaced the cluster on my '85 with one from a '87, but that's a plug and play fit.

I imagine that the "franken-cluster" is the likely culprit for your charging issue, and possibly the warning light issue.

I also imagine you've done the whole song and dance with ground cleaning, pulling fuses and relays to clean, 14-pin cleaning, etc?

Mrmerlin

thanks for the reply i have cleaned all of the grounds and the 14 at the hot post. Also i installed a correct year gauge cluster, now I have to figure out where the power to the alternator field is being disrupted

Mrmerlin

Well i went searching the wires for the bulb/exciter wire from the pod to the alternator, i have voltage all the way up to the hot post 14 pin connector. From the 14 pin connector to the alternator there was an open, I tugged on the blue wire at the alternator and it pulled out of the orange wire protector sheathing , . the wire was sheared off about 4 inches up the sheath right about where it comes out of the rubber grommet. A little bit of solder and some heat shrink.
Connected to the alternator the bulb illuminates and the test portion of the gauge pack stays lit.
So these 2 issues were related

linderpat

Did the new cluster make it Stan?

SteveG

Re: [no] charging till the revs get to about 2500 rpm.

Well, I read it here (on the internet) so take it with salt, that the alternator does not charge til the tack hits 2500 (first time - then always on); would this be the same as "energizing the exictor circuit" at xxxx rpm?, correct me if I'm using wrong terminology. Maybe you have verified this.

Mrmerlin

Ed , thanks i got the gauges, soI swapped your gauges into the pod after swapping out the odometer drive gear the old one crumbled.
they seem to be working perfectly, thanks.
Steve without the 12V to the exciter wire the alternator wont start charging till its internal field gets power this can be done by revving the engine then the alt will start charging after about 2500 to 3000 RPM, with the blue wire connected and supplying 12V the alt makes charging power when the engine is started, no revving needed.
The interesting thing was that the gauge test portion wouldnt work properly till the 12V was being sent and received by the alternator

SteveG

Merlin: Thanks for clarifying. About 2029, I'll understand the shark, and I read that an asteroid is going to hit June, 20th of that year, so I'll die happy. Actually, I won't be around that long, so I guess I better adjust my thinking.