I took my car to a local tire/ alignment shop to get an alignment today and had them check the alternator while it was there because it is draining my battery. They said it is over charging because there is no wire going to the switch from the voltage reg. This explains why my last battery only lasted 4 ms. They were not familiar with my car so they didn't do anything to it.

My car has no comp. just a gw. 350 with msd and a holley.

Can i just run a wire from a relay i use for the cooling fan to the alt.? If so where does the wire go to on the alternator? It is just a autozone replacement.

thanks.

 

If your car is a VIN "G" or VIN "H", there is not supposed to be a wire going to the ignition switch from the alternator. There is a brown wire going to the ignition switch from the alternator on the VIN "2", VIN "F" & VIN "S" models.

 

All third gen generators have 2 wires. The field wire is HOT all the time. As TK said the brown or tan wire is the gen turn on-off. if the turn on wire is hot all the time the gen will buzz and drain the batt.

 

I used an alternator for an '86 when I put the new motor in my TA. I ran a 10ga.wire from the stud on the back right to the battery and that's it. Been working fine for months now. It's got a spot on the case for a 2 terminal plug, I just left it empty.

 

after dealing with a battery drain for over a year i found that the switched wire was connected to a always hot wire. Ihooked it through a relay and problem solved.