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im looking for a solution on fixing the charging system on my 1994 pontiac firebird.
the equipment on the charging system of the car includes a deepcycle optima yellowtop battery that tests fine and has some rediculous amount of cca and storage ability. the alternator is a stock replacement from pepboys that is 10 amps @ idle and 105 at normal driving range. it has a lifetime warrantee and i personally have replaced it many times in the last month trying to diagnose the problem with the car. i know it isnt a quality part but i am confident that it wil work in the car since previous ones have lasted for year before.
the car is not stock by any means as far as the electrical system goes but i have been careful to fuse every added device and they all run to one 8 guge wire fused 6 inches from the remote + battery terminal. eventually i will replace the alternator with a ho from 4alterstart (if they can make a running website that has more bandwith than a 9800 baud modem) since the car is drawing from a large security system, multiple amplifiers, and excessive auxiliary lighting. for now i have this all disconnected and am just testing the charging system with the pepboys alternator since they are free [Smile]
when the car is off the battery voltage reads fine at 12v. when the car is turned on it will itermentally go from 14v down to 11v and lower. usually when the engine in torquing from acceleration the volatage is 11v and decreasing and when cruising sometimes it jumps back to 14v.
i diagnosed this problem to being the voltage regulator connector on the top of the alternator. when i pull the wire on the connector a certain way the voltage goes to a normal 14.4v but when the cable is at rest it loses connection and the car voltage goes low. somewhere along the path of wiring i believe the wire is exposed as well and i would like to replace it in its entirety
now, here is where my question starts. i want to replace the wire and harness off the top of the alternator that i believe is causing this problem. my chilton/haynes manual is unclear where this wire goes though for the 1994 v6 model. the wiring diagram shows 2 possible options. either it could go to the "pcm and check guages light on the dash" or only the check guages light on the dash. i would like to replace the wire from the terminating location all the way to the alternator to be sure there are no shorts in the wire.
if anyone has access to the gm wiring book for my car or knows for a fact where this wire goes please respond.
the dealer, which has never had the luxury of even touching my car before, wants $120 to diagnose the problem, $550 to replace the wire and harness, and $450 to replace the alternator with a stock delco.if i can find the routing of this wire this could all be done for $20.
here is a picture of the alternator and plug i am talking about. the harness is an aftermarket from napa that is garbage and my car only uses the one wire, the other 2 are unnecessary and are only there since the harness is universal.
Picture of Alternator
thank you in advance,
dan miller
the equipment on the charging system of the car includes a deepcycle optima yellowtop battery that tests fine and has some rediculous amount of cca and storage ability. the alternator is a stock replacement from pepboys that is 10 amps @ idle and 105 at normal driving range. it has a lifetime warrantee and i personally have replaced it many times in the last month trying to diagnose the problem with the car. i know it isnt a quality part but i am confident that it wil work in the car since previous ones have lasted for year before.
the car is not stock by any means as far as the electrical system goes but i have been careful to fuse every added device and they all run to one 8 guge wire fused 6 inches from the remote + battery terminal. eventually i will replace the alternator with a ho from 4alterstart (if they can make a running website that has more bandwith than a 9800 baud modem) since the car is drawing from a large security system, multiple amplifiers, and excessive auxiliary lighting. for now i have this all disconnected and am just testing the charging system with the pepboys alternator since they are free [Smile]
when the car is off the battery voltage reads fine at 12v. when the car is turned on it will itermentally go from 14v down to 11v and lower. usually when the engine in torquing from acceleration the volatage is 11v and decreasing and when cruising sometimes it jumps back to 14v.
i diagnosed this problem to being the voltage regulator connector on the top of the alternator. when i pull the wire on the connector a certain way the voltage goes to a normal 14.4v but when the cable is at rest it loses connection and the car voltage goes low. somewhere along the path of wiring i believe the wire is exposed as well and i would like to replace it in its entirety
now, here is where my question starts. i want to replace the wire and harness off the top of the alternator that i believe is causing this problem. my chilton/haynes manual is unclear where this wire goes though for the 1994 v6 model. the wiring diagram shows 2 possible options. either it could go to the "pcm and check guages light on the dash" or only the check guages light on the dash. i would like to replace the wire from the terminating location all the way to the alternator to be sure there are no shorts in the wire.
if anyone has access to the gm wiring book for my car or knows for a fact where this wire goes please respond.
the dealer, which has never had the luxury of even touching my car before, wants $120 to diagnose the problem, $550 to replace the wire and harness, and $450 to replace the alternator with a stock delco.if i can find the routing of this wire this could all be done for $20.
here is a picture of the alternator and plug i am talking about. the harness is an aftermarket from napa that is garbage and my car only uses the one wire, the other 2 are unnecessary and are only there since the harness is universal.
Picture of Alternator
thank you in advance,
dan miller
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