charging system - times running out for the rally! HELP

[GRU]

ok ive got two weeks to get this truck finished and ready to tow the camper to the rally. in doing the cummins swap i retained the dodge alternator and tied it in to the ford voltage regulator and wire harness. its a pretty common thing to do and theres many articles online about it. well im getting no voltage. if i pull the battery terminal the engine dies. the gauge reads no voltage. yet the warning light on the dash never lights up though the bulb is good. i just had the alternator tested at autozone and it passed real well so its good. i swapped regulators with my blue truck and made no difference. can someone please help? im running out of time! also the truck was originally an auto truck. i swapped it to a 5 speed and sold the tranny computer to a board member. is there any part of the charging system that would be run though the tranny computer harness that would be run somewhere else on a manual truck? i cant see that being the case but anythings possible...

 

[freebird01]

wuss...


did you put a multi-meter on it to see if its charging?

 

[GRU]

well with it still connected to the output post its still gonna read the battery voltage. but im gonna go unhook the output lead off it and see. like i said autozone just tested it. they says its putting out 14.69 volts and everything passed. wuss???

 

[GRU]

ok i pulled off the output wire from the post on the alternator and no voltage whatsoever when its running. now how am i getting no voltage when autozone just said it put out 14.7 volts???????

 

[Darrin Tosh]

wuss???

Prolly referring to the Cummins Swap,...

Yea that is not right Andy,.. dumb question, but is it spinning the opposite way,..? if it matters.

 

[93cc7.3]

Did you make sure it has ign power to turn the alt on mines an ex psd so i dont have external volt regulator

 

[freebird01]

If all you got to figure out is a charging issue you got it easy lol..i still have to put my whole interior together,brakes, etc and go through pa inspection

And yes a meter will show batt voltage but if its charging it should be closer to 14v off idle...if the alt is not getting power to excite it like 93cc says it wont charge

 

[GRU]

yup i hooked it back up and there was still no more than 12v showing at the battery. so i called autozone and asked if an alternator could test good but actually be bad and he said he had that exact thing happen today for another guy. i just got back from picking up a reman alternator so we will see what happens tomorrow. darrin i dont see any possible way to get the belt on there to spin it backwards. and ya i figured he meant i was taking the easy way out. Blue is still IDI so im not completely trading sides. right now the only thing thats really boggling my mind is why the charge light on the dash is not working. the green/red wire from the regulator is the circuit that gets 12v with the key on that lights the battery light until the alternator starts charging. then it puts 12v to the other side of the light thus removing the ground. with my volt meter i am getting 12v with the key on. however i cannot get the light to light. i even put my test light from that wire at the regulator to the ground at the fender and that light will not come on, even with the meter showing voltage.

jason dont worry this isnt my only thing to finish up. i still have a significant leak at my water neck even though i took it back off and sealed it up real good. my power steering line is leaking. my turbo oil feed is leaking. i still have no AC. dont know how well my brakes work or if the trailer harness/brake controller works. and i also need inspected. love the PRTJs!!!! i cant wait to see how nice my new tow mirrors are though...

 

[Darrin Tosh]

Did you make sure it has ign power to turn the alt on mines an ex psd so i dont have external volt regulator

That is a good point that Seth makes Andy, Some alternators need a hit of 12v to "excite" the alt, not sure if Dodge Alts need that or not but if so it might not be getting 12 Ignition volt to the excite wire,..

jason dont worry this isnt my only thing to finish up. i still have a significant leak at my water neck even though i took it back off and sealed it up real good. my power steering line is leaking. my turbo oil feed is leaking. i still have no AC. dont know how well my brakes work or if the trailer harness/brake controller works. and i also need inspected. love the PRTJs!!!! i cant wait to see how nice my new tow mirrors are though...

Should be no problem!

 

[GRU]

moment of truth... i will know in about 15 minutes!... are your fingers crossed??

 

[Agnem]

Concentrate on the field circuit. With no field, you get no output.

 

[GRU]

some of you didnt have your fingers crossed... nope, new alternator did not help. mel what exactly do i need to do? the dodge alternator has the two field terminals with a nice molded plastic housing that holds the two fields in correct orientation to a stud on the alternator body. those are spliced in directly to the two field wires in the ford harness going to the two fields on the voltage regulator. i even took the regulator off of Blue so i knew it was good. im missing something and i just cant figure it out...

 

[spg]

Rotation is not an issue, The alternator will charge spinning either direction. They do have a direction for the cooling fan but that will not change the charging part.

 

[THECACKLER]

What he said. They don't care which way they are turning when they pass through the field. There's an old trick to do a quick test of the field windings by using a screwdriver held close to the back of the case of the unit while it's running to see if the alternator is magnetized. It should be. If not there's where to start.

 

[Darrin Tosh]

some of you didnt have your fingers crossed... nope, new alternator did not help. mel what exactly do i need to do? the dodge alternator has the two field terminals with a nice molded plastic housing that holds the two fields in correct orientation to a stud on the alternator body. those are spliced in directly to the two field wires in the ford harness going to the two fields on the voltage regulator. i even took the regulator off of Blue so i knew it was good. im missing something and i just cant figure it out...

,........heads off to the Dodge Cummins forum to do some searching,.......