ridenour14r

i have a 1989 firebird formula 350
converted to carburator running a 600 holley
mechanical fuel pump
no computer in the car
my guage in the car is reading about 8 volts
i have a brand new battery , new starter and new alternator the car will start right up after being jumped but wont hold a charge? any ideas ? im leaning towards putting in a 1 wire alternator but no completly sure maybe putting in a new power and ground cable

bcmag

check all fuses and fusible links first.three wire alt. biggest wire should have batt. voltage.larger of two wire on plug should have batt. voltage...smaller wire should have some voltage...less than batt. voltage-runs thru gauge first

ridenour14r

i did check and i did have power at all those idk what else it could be ? im leaning towards putting the one wire alternator in

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iTrader: (14)

i assume the alt is wired correctly? you have the larger #8 or something wire from the stub on the back of the alt connected to the + battery terminal? the 2 wire plug for the field wiring is connected and the red hooked to power?

when the car is jumped will it keep running, or eventually drain the battery and stall?

bcmag

if its wired correctly sounds like you might just have gotten abad alternator.

bcmag

with engine running connect red lead of voltmeter to + batt. cable and black to +stud on back of alt.what does the meter read?if anything over .7V you have a bad connection between alt and batt.do same to make sure alt case is grounded.black lead to - cable and red lead to alt housing.w/engine running should be under .3V

ridenour14r

ya it is wired correctly im gonna test that today thanks

Matt1821

Im having the same problem with my camaro. Its a two prong alt. Back stud goes straight to the + terminal, no cracks or burns on the wire. I did what you said to do and the alt. Ground was at 3.2 v. You said it needs to be undr three, how do i fix that?
brand new bat. And alt is new too. I have to jump the car to start and battery wont charge. It slowly drops in volts