Charging Syatem
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:57 pm
Are there any charging system experts here that I can talk to?
For starters, verify that the following is true.
All connections related to charging are tight and not corroded. Alternator terminals, voltage regulator terminals, bulkhead disconnect terminals specifically 18 and 16, which go to the ammeter, battery leads at the starter relay and fusible link. If you have the high capacity alternator, the bulkhead disconnect is bypassed by straight-through wiring. Nobody has modified the wiring / circuits.
The Chrysler alternator uses the voltage regulator to raise or lower the negative side of the field winding. The positive side is connected to the "ignition" voltage. The higher the voltage on the field winding, the higher the output voltage of the alternator. One way to check an alternator function is to remove the wire from the field terminal that goes to the voltage regulator output ( in this case, the dark green wire ) and ground that field terminal instead. The alternator output should jump up to maybe 15 volts or more. Don't leave it that way more than long enough to measure the voltage. The safest way to do this is to also disconnect the alternator output wire too ( larger black wire on the "B" terminal.) Don't let either of the disconnected wires touch any metal.
If the connections are all good and the alternator gives full voltage in the previous test, the regulator is most likely the culprit. The regulator can be tested but generally needs a variable DC power supply and a couple of voltmeters to do so.
What are you symptoms? Presumably, you manually charge your battery and eventually it goes dead in the car via driving it? That was my issue when I bought the GTX. The regulator was dead.
What is the extent of your electrical savvy? Do you have / can you understand the wiring diagrams?