Five-8

Thank you Alan...as you can plainly see, i don't really have a clue...but i am trying to learn.

Cheers,

Alan

The black box won't do any harm - just a capacitor I think.

Alan

Five-8

mounted the alternator to chassis...connected exciter wire...i now have warning/charge light on with ignition.

cheers,

Alan

OK check it out...

Alan

Mrmerlin

OK so you do not have to check the blue wire for continuity, is this a Bosch alternator?
Does it say Bosch on it?
look at the part under the grill what does it say?

Here is a Paris Rhone from a 928 the voltage regulators look quite similar

Five-8

All is GOOD!
Seems that i have been chasing my tail all along.At the end of the day it appears that the exciter wire was not making good contact at the alternator.
I appreciate you guys offering up your wisdom, it must be difficult sometimes to have patience with those like myself who are less than knowledgable.
I have yet to verify everything, but the voltmeter in the car is exactly where it is supposed to be on start up.

You guys are great.

Thanks!

Alan

Excellent! have a good weekend driving it.

Alan

Five-8

Stan the unit is a Bosch (from Roger), the voltage regulator is labelled VALEO from France.

Cheers,

Mrmerlin

OK thanks,
it looks very similar to the PR I have on my bench.

Five-8

Well, seems i spoke too soon.

Since i thought my alternator trouble was over, today i decided to change all the ancillary belts, which all went smoothly, once i got the feel for it.
End of the afternoon..everything back together...back to a non charging alternator...more than a little frustrating i have to say.
Will follow up on the earlier suggestions(exciter circuit) and report back.
Quick question tho...Since the new alternator did work briefly yesterday...can one assume the alternator is not a part of the problem or is it possible to have a "flakey" alternator?

Thanks Fellas,

j.kenzie@sbcglobal.net

Now that it is not working, check continuity from the blue wire at the alternator and pin number one at the 14-pin connector at the jump post. As Stan pointed out, the wire breaks about 4" in from the connector, and will make unreliable contact. You can repair it at the break or run a sister wire to the 14-pin.
Good luck,
Dave

Alan

I think I'd test the exciter circuit as Stan noted - it may have a fracture from stress (e.g. hanging the alternator on at some point) if so flexing the cable may be enough to pull it apart again... check for that...

I half suspected the issue might recurr - only because we didn't really do anything to fix it last time...

Alan

Mrmerlin

when checking the blue it has to be disconnected from the alternator first

Five-8

Peeled back the sheathing on the exciter wire at the alternator, did discover a small nick in the insulation but the wire seemed fine(wrapped it in electrical tape for now).
Just for my own curiousity, i threw the old alternator back in.---No charge/warning light, but once throttle was applied, the alternator kicked in---which is the way it always was since i bought the car.
So near as i can tell there still is an issue in the exciter circuit.i'm going to test for blue wire continuity from the alternator to the 14 pin next.

I understand that this working/not working thing could be down to every time i drop/mount the alternators, i may be wiggling the exciter wire in this location, in which case the continuity test can not be relied on...do i have that right?

I have the resistor and bulbholder for the pod...i am wondering whether it would be worth changing this at this point...could the behaviour i am experiencing be attributable to this?

Thanks Fellas

Mrmerlin

NOTE when the wire breaks, it breaks internal to the insulation,
so the wire will still look like all is well

By looking very carefully you can usually find the small detent in the wire where the insulation has shrunk from the wire break.

Otherwise connect the multi meter leads to each end of the blue wire,
and set for buzzer continuity,
and then jiggle the wire to find if it may be broken .

NOTE also inspect the 14 pin connector back sides remove the cover to see what the wire ends look like