Topic: Voltage problem .. still

[rkellerjr]

Mean while back to Rich's problem.  If your wiring harness it all chopped up I would recommend you consider replacing it.  It is only going to lead to problems in the long run.  I have seen cars with shorted wiring catch fire.

Ultimately that is my plan but I don't have the money right now to do that.  I'm going to pull the wiring harness ... uh ... block/box from the firewall  :?  and then make sure the wires are ran correctly.  Then check the interior and make sure things are fine there.  I will be only concentraing on the charging system mostly as everything else is fine.  I am way out of my league here but, it must be done.  I've got several wiring diagrams (thanks Rick!!!) and my service manuals so .... I shouldn't have any problems ... I hope.

I'll be pushing the car away from the house though  :shock:  just in case, and I do have plenty of insurance   :lol:

[fb_rider]

Are you 100% sure of the alternator?  I had a similiar issue with my car, and had my original alternator rebuilt.  It now is over 14 volts at idle.  He was pretty sure the voltage regulator was acting up.  Just another though - maybe you might want to take your alternator to a specialty shop (instead of Autozone, Advance, etc), just to make sure if you haven't.

[rkellerjr]

Well, this is the 2nd alternator to act EXACTLY the same way so I think it's the wiring and not the alternator.  Anyhoo, my plan is to pull the engine harness block from the firewall Sat. morning and then start tracing and re-wiring the charging the system.  Then put the block back on and see what happens.  HopefullyI'll have a running and charging car.

[rkellerjr]

Should the engine harness block plug into the cabin block? How do the two connect?

[fb_rider]

It's a big plug that plugs into a receptacle on the firewall.  It has a bolt in it that keeps it in place.  Have you looked at the Hoghead page?  http://www.firebirdtransamparts.com/techinfo/harness/harness.htm  It shows some pretty good pics.

[rkellerjr]

Well, no joy.  I'm going to get me one of those painless wiring kits and re-wire it.  If that doesn work, I'm gonna shoot it.

[rkellerjr]

[Amtrak]

Find someone who is into wiring to help you taking out the harness and puting a painless harness would hurt the value of the car and be a Nightmare to install.   You have at the most two bad connections somewhere one hour at a garage that restores old cars and this would be fixed...I would help you myself but you live on the other side of the US

[rkellerjr]

After thinking through my options I think I will probably take the car down to a reputable local establishment that specializes in car electricals.  That is my least expensive and least time consuming route.

Thanks everyone for all your posts and help.  As usual you've been a wealth of knowledge and support.  I'll let you kow how it goes.

[rkellerjr]

Well, the car is being dropped off tomorrow to an auto electrician to figure what's wrong with it.  I'm tired of messing and the alternatives are too expensive and may not fix the problem.  I should know where I sit tomorrow as they indicate they can get it in and diagnosed.  I'll keep ya posted.

[formula400me]

It's been a while since you posted rich.. any word on what was the ultimate problem?  There's so many postings and the story has climaxed.. It's like clue.. I'm curious to find out who did it, in which room, with which weapon. hehe. 

[RENOVATIONS]

It was Rick...in the Lobby...with a connecting rod

[rkellerjr]

hehehe, the problem ended up being that I had one wire not connected right on the alternator.  I don't remember which one since it's been so long however, I still do not think it's 100% correct as there isn't a fused wire, which I think there should be according to the wiring diagram.  I will probably get an engine wiring harness later this year and replace all the wires. 

It's charging great now.

And actually Jeff is WAS Rick.... in the engine bay... with a connecting rod