Charging Issue, Swapped Alternators, What's Next?...

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Hachikansai77
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Charging Issue, Swapped Alternators, What's Next?...

Post by Hachikansai77 »

Okay, so I'm extremely close to getting the Coupe on track, and one of the last hurdles is a fairly major one.

I am getting zero charge from the alternator (12.4 volts at the terminals running or not running), with it slowly going down as the engine runs. I've replaced the alternator with a good unit off a working car and it's made no difference, so I'm going to assume this is a wiring issue.

The engine is a G200W, but the alternator it had on it, and the one I replaced it with, are both the standard externally regulated G series units.

What I'd like to know is, since I don't have much experience with this area of auto electrics, is how to go about about finding the cause of the problem. I have a hunch that the fact that the external regulator isn't bolted down (early TX running a later loom) has probably got something to do with this. However, I have also heard that not having it hooked up would have the opposite effect (overcharging), so I'm a little bit confused.

Thanks,
Ethan
TD Sedan "Derrick/Dez"
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TL;DR: STOP OFFERING ME GEMINIS!!!
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LOK15
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Post by LOK15 »

have you checked the regulator?
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Hachikansai77
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Post by Hachikansai77 »

When you say checked, is there a way that I can test it specifically to make sure it's working?
Pulled it straight off a car that was running not 5min earlier (also pinched the alternator off that one), and have now bolted it down on clean metal, as well as cleaning all surrounding earths... no change...
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Wrx884
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Post by Wrx884 »

we had this problem on a TF, turned out 2 b a dead cell in the battery even tho the lil green indicator showed green, that indicator doesnt show all other cells only that 1 so mayb try changing batteries.
tettgem
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Post by tettgem »

X2 on battery, had the same problem a few weeks ago in my girlfriends commodore, dropped a cell, thought it was alternator, mechanic chucked new battery in, bobs your uncle!
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Hachikansai77
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Post by Hachikansai77 »

Battery was also taken from a running car, albeit not brand new, and has been through a few cycles now since trying to diagnose the problem.

Cleaned off the earth strap, and all the surrounding earth points. That's slowed the discharge, but I'm pretty sure it's still there. It doesn't go up from 12.4v while running, but takes ages for it to even drop. After over an hour of it idling between 500-800rpm it only dropped to just below 12v, compared to it dropping below 10v within half an hour at most. Taking it for a quick drive didn't see it drop at all, so perhaps it's just the low idle causing it to drop now. Thankfully the Wolf3D's hand controller was able to give me a readout in real time :)

If I get time after this weekend I'll try a brand new battery and see if that fixes it, but for now I'll just keep what I have well charged and hope for the best :P
TD Sedan "Derrick/Dez"
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MGOTD
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Post by MGOTD »

checked fuseable link on the battery?
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Hachikansai77
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Post by Hachikansai77 »

Hmm... now it's funny you should mention that. In the process of fiddling I accidentally shorted out the fuse box and blew a fuse as well as the link to the battery. I replaced that at around the same time I did the earths, so that may have had something to do with it...
TD Sedan "Derrick/Dez"
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Wrx884
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Post by Wrx884 »

if u blew the fusable link on the battery u would have no power at all so doubt it would b that.

wen u increase the revs does the charge increase at all or still remain the same?
Hachikansai77
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Post by Hachikansai77 »

It's still doing it :(

12.4v (or whatever charge the battery is at) when not running, and the same when running, regardless of what RPM the alternator spins.

I will try another supposedly good battery today, as at this point I'm not really keen on forking out for a new one when all signs point to it not being the problem.
TD Sedan "Derrick/Dez"
TX Coupe "Zero": Longterm Zokusha/Drift Build.
TE Diesel Sedan: Turbo Sandpiper II Mockup (In Progress)
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TL;DR: STOP OFFERING ME GEMINIS!!!
geminilover3236
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Post by geminilover3236 »

Create a new part of the wiring loom maybe for the alternator/battery?
antus
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Post by antus »

could be the alternator. both of my original twin cam altinators died with that exact symptom, and would be about the same age as yours. I removed the external reg and put a ford 90-93 ford festiva 50amp internally regulated one on there. Cheap from the wreckers, and it fits the twincam mounts. Gives good charge and higher volts. pics and details here:

http://gemisa.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3594

The factory unit had pretty poor charge beforehand, and could barely handle the efi, and could not keep up with H4 headlights and low rpm. The battery volts got down so low once after an extended period of lights on and low revs the indicators lost the ability to blink and I had to jump start the car the next morning to get it to start again.
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rotagem
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Post by rotagem »

I had the same problem man, tried two other standard gem alternators with no luck, also changed the regulator with the same result. So i did the N15 alternator upgrade with the write up on here.

viewtopic.php?t=19153

Sweet azz now, straight up to 14volts. Its running microtech efi, big fuel setup heaps of gauges and other stuff that just killed the standard gemini one.

This is on a g200 mind you not a g200w.
follow antus link he put up, very helpful and for the twincam too :)
Hachikansai77
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Post by Hachikansai77 »

I'm thinking you guys might be onto something here...

I've just tried another battery today, after charging it fully overnight. This one is the actual battery I would use normally, but I flattened it by accident recently so I wasn't able to.

Sits at a consistent 12v (straight from the terminals), and does not go down at all. Revving it up to 2500rpm-ish sees it climb the tiniest bit, but essentially stays on 12v.

It make senses, seeing as how the original unit was only designed to cope with the standard carby loom. Now I've essentially doubled the load required from it, with two seperate looms, one with EFI requirements.

I don't have time to do the conversion now, but after this weekend I'll put that on the list :D
TD Sedan "Derrick/Dez"
TX Coupe "Zero": Longterm Zokusha/Drift Build.
TE Diesel Sedan: Turbo Sandpiper II Mockup (In Progress)
TE Sedan "Bella": Basic Battle Bitch
Hilux: Daily

TL;DR: STOP OFFERING ME GEMINIS!!!
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