charging system

[chris_mile]

here is the scoop. car runs great but the battery is not charging.i took the alternator in and it passed the bench test. i took the battery in and charged great. still though the battery wont charge. after i tightened everything down again and recharged the battery i ran it and pulled the positive off the battery and it died instantly.any ideas?

 

[DHarber]

Sounds like your volt light on the left hand side of the dash is not working. When this does not light up for a couple of seconds when you first start the car, the charging system will not work.
You can also just turn the key to the run position to do the bulb check.
This is a common problem on these cars with the printed circuit on the back of the dash gets dirty or corroded connections.
Try pushing in on the left side of the dash by the lights and turn the key on to see if it lights up then. If it does you will need to take the dash panel off to clean and scrape the connections.
Do this easily with a pocket screwdriver and make sure you disconnect the battery first. This worked for me and now it charges fine. I will also bet the car was falling off on power above 4000 rpm because of low voltage to the fuel pump and ecm. Good luck. Don

 

[Rickracer]

Also check your fuses

If the gauge fuse (I believe) is blown, the car will not charge either. I usually take a test light and check them all while I'm there. If you run into some that have no power on either side, check them with the key in the start position and/or with the H/L switch on. If they still have no power to them, you may have a blown fusible link.

 

[Turbo Brian]

The brown wire coming off of the back of the alternator connects to the back of the printed circuit on the instrument panel. If the wire is broken anywhere from the alternator up to the instrument panel connecter, the alternator will not charge.

Caspers makes a plug and play field fix harness that is a work around for wiring problems.

 

[chris_mile]

thanks but it was the dash i recently pulled it out and must have got dirt in there. it works great now.