Outer Limits 4x4 Board

i have a G16a (carby) motor in my vit.

i killed the original alternator about a month ago, and got another alt off a G13a. apparently they are identical. put it on, all is good.

but

now i think its over charging the battery. the battery is new also, got it when i got the alt. the battery gets really really hot when i'm driving, but not far. its just too hot to touch, and now its sorta spraying the acid through the caps and all under my bonnet.

i know on newer cars they have a over charge protection thing built in.

so what do i do? or what should i check? what would cause this? and why?

when idling, about 700-800 RPM, my headlights are kinda dim, and when i rev it up to about 2000 rpm, the light go brighter. i know this is sorta normal, but it was never as noticable as it is now. same goes with the spotties on, or hi-beam.

help?

thanks
Steve

sounds like the regulator ain't working.
It's inbuilt into the alternator, and a tester could tell you quickly.
I think fix it quick, or could be dangerous, and could kill battery.
It is possible that wiring is different, and/or wrongly connected, but I doubt it.

christover

check the plug going into the altanator cos that gives the reference voltage for the regulator to work, and if the wire is broken then the altanator assumes that the battery is dead flat and give's the battery everything it's got untill it sees a reference voltage within spec's again

and the other wire turns on the charge light on the dash

does the charge light on the dash work ??

oozuk wrote:
and the other wire turns on the charge light on the dash

does the charge light on the dash work ??

is the charge light the battery looking one? if it is, it only ever comes on when the key is on the on position before i start the car. never ever seen it on other than then.

can i fix this myself? or do i need to take the alt out for the auto leccy?

thanks for the help guys.

definetly sounds like its overcharging, take it out, check ur plug and make sure none of the leads r burnt out, if its charging over 15 volts on a new battert you really shouldnt be driving it....

the plug in the back of the alternater, which give the regulator a reference voltage, where do the two wires go? looks like one is a (+) and the other is a (-). maybe if i can trace where they go, i might be able to see if its anywhere along there.

the big wire which goes to the battery through a fuse is the charge wire, right?

if i disconnect this, the motor wont start. how come? its not connected to anything else. i know it needs to run the coil and spark and so on, but the motor wont even turn over.

holy cow, imagine if i had an EFI that was playing up, i'd really be screwed. even though the computer can tell you what wrong, i'd still be stuck.

anyway, cheers guys.

First thing I'd do is stick a multimeter on the thing. Even if you measure the volts at the battery terminals while she's running, that should give you some idea of what's goin on.

Should be pretty close to 13.8 volts when you're engine is reving. If it's >14.5 volts, you got a prob you gotta fix straight away.

Some sound systems, cb radios, etc. don't like anything more than about 15.5 volts, so reg probs can start to get expensive very quickly.