My daughter brought her 1984 Trans Am over for me to look at. She just bought it. Had a mechanic install a new alternator. Only charges at 12 volts with everything off. I took the alternator to Autozone and they put it on a machine and said it was charging at 15 volts. Put it back on and started checking wiring. All wiring seems to be alright. Took all wires off and cleaned connections and added dielectric grease. 12.5 volts without a load. Add a load and it goes below 12 volts. Added a ground from the block to the frame. Stopped the voltage pull down under load but still only 12.5 volts. New battery. Added another wire from battery to B on the alternator. New wire from B to field plug hot. Still no charge. The only wire I didn't replace was the field to the switch. It has battery voltage. Should it have less voltage because it runs through the carb heater relay?
Even put another alternator of my chevy that was charging 14.5 volts and it only put out 12.5 on the Trans Am. Trans Am alternator only puts out 12.5 when put on my chevy. I'm out of ideas.
