Chris,
How did you connect up the alternator output? You eoither ran it directly
to the battery, or you connected it to the white wire that was connected
to the output of the old alternator.
If you connected it directly to the battery the alternator will not work
the same as it did with the stock wiring. It will only show discharge. If
this is the way you hooked it up, turn on the headlights with the engine
off and the ammeter will show a discharge. This in normal and the gauge is
probably not damaged.
If you connected the alternator to the stock wiring and the ammeter is not
showing a charge then there is a problem. Try the above test to see if the
ammeter will show a discharge. If it does the alternator is not charging
the battery. If the ammeter doesn't show any deflection, the ammeter is
probably bad. This type of failure is not common, but it is possible.
Usually the ammeter plays fuse and opens up, which causes the car to not
have any power.
What year is your car? If the ammeter has gone out, and you have a 67.5, a
higher rating ammeter can be swapped. Going that route costs quite a bit
less than replacing the ammeter with an original. There are also folks on
the list that can repair the ammeter for you, at least they repaired mine,
but may not planon doing it again!
Peace,
Pat
- Support Habitat for Humanity, A
"hand up", not a "hand out" -
Pat Horne, Network Manager, Shop Supervisor/Future planner, CS Dept,
University of Texas, 1 University Station C0500,Austin, Tx. 78712-1188 USA
voice (512)471-9730, fax (512)471-8885, horne@cs.utexas.edu
On Tue, 12 Nov 2002 Chris.Brucciani@ercgroup.com wrote:
> It's hard to believe that my alternator fire was July 4th and I just now
> found the time to get under the hood to make repairs to Pinky. Sheesh!!
> Funny how an 18 month old child can change things (for the better, wouldn't
> want it any different!)
>
> I put a new 42amp one wire in. But I notice that my amp gauge is not
> working. Could it have fried during the fire? How can I check it to see if
> it is fried? Can it be repaired if it is broken?
>
> Also - how can I check to see if the alternator is charging?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Chris Brucciani
> Marietta, GA
> 68 2000
> 73 240Z
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