[bherbst4114]

I am pretty car savy when it comes to interiors but when it comes to electrical, I need some help. I replaced a bad alternator with one that tested just fine at the store and had my battery charged at the same time. Here is the issue, with the car off, the battery was reading around 12 and with it started it read the same. The battery has been draining for some time and I check the regulator and alternator and it all was the same reading at 12.4. I thought when the car was started that the battery should read higher. Am I missing something here? Also, I recently disconnect all the lights on the outside of the car to prep for restoration. Could this be an issue? I went to a local muscle car shop and he said the most common problem with that is the motor grounded to the chassie properly.....any comments of help please? Thanks

 

[Jack Burton]

I am pretty car savy when it comes to interiors but when it comes to electrical, I need some help. I replaced a bad alternator with one that tested just fine at the store and had my battery charged at the same time. Here is the issue, with the car off, the battery was reading around 12 and with it started it read the same. The battery has been draining for some time and I check the regulator and alternator and it all was the same reading at 12.4. I thought when the car was started that the battery should read higher. Am I missing something here? Also, I recently disconnect all the lights on the outside of the car to prep for restoration. Could this be an issue? I went to a local muscle car shop and he said the most common problem with that is the motor grounded to the chassie properly.....any comments of help please? Thanks

It sounds like you need to do some more troubleshooting before anyone can offer help. You might want to take a look at this thread:
http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123134

 

[bherbst4114]

Update on alternator draining

Jack Burton,

So all I need to do to start if hook a testing light between positive and negative and pull fuses till lights go out, correct?

 

[Jack Burton]

Jack Burton,

So all I need to do to start if hook a testing light between positive and negative and pull fuses till lights go out, correct?

Since you'll essentially be measuring current, you'll want your test lamp in series with the battery. Remove the negative battery cable from the battery and hook the lamp between this cable and the battery post. While doing this, don't turn anything on in the car. Just pull fuses until the lamp goes out.

You could also do this by popping a fuse and bridging the fuse holder with the test lamp to see if it lights up. I'm hesitant to recommend this method though if you have no experience with this sort of stuff.

You might want to consider getting a multi-meter (DMM).

 

[71 Chevy]

hi, like I just found out, your field wire might not be connected properly. you probably have to trace it from the fuse bulkhead in the engne bay to the regulator, then from there to the alternator to make sure its hooked up correctly.

a resistance test could probably save time here.

http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=124447