So I've messed something up in my electrical system. I rebuilt my 89 Camaro 5.7 IROC back from the dead with a big 3 upgrade and a Powerbuild 140 amp alternator for my electronics and sound system. I put new ground strips on, and dremeled away the paint at the ground points on the chassis to a nice polished steel look to ensure a good ground. I have an Optima Yellow Top battery since I abuse the electrical system when the car isn't on every now and then. My sound system has a large load, but nothing outside of what the system should be capable of, and as such I do not think it could be a cause of my problem.

My Powerbuilt alternator crapped out, and as I removed it, I noticed that the power connection from the battery was blackened as well as the bolt and the alternator connection. When I sent it in the Powerbuilt since it was under warranty, they told me I toasted it, most likely from a long-term problem like a bad ground. I have an Autozone lifetime warranty alternator on it now, and it's done the same marks, and I've noticed corrosion (green funk) on the wiring inside the alternator connector cap. I've cleaned all the parts and added a terminal connector coating to try to slow it down (most likely useless) but I don't want to replace the alternator until I know what the problem is and have solved it.

I have a March serpentine belt power and amp set. The battery ground is next to it on the fender (very good connection, no signs of corrosion.) The rear engine to chassis ground has a new Taylor stainless Steel ground strap that connects to the normal rear firewall position (very clean connection) and to the rear of the passenger-side head with a bolt and washer. Lastly the battery to front engine ground is located between the accessory bracket and the block (could this location be a problem?) I haven't noticed any problems out of the ordinary for this vehicle. It has always had it's voltmeter gauge bounce randomly (why I'm installing an Autometer voltmeter gauge), but that could be a symptom of this bad ground, could it not?

Anyone know what would cause the problem, and if I've already diagnosed the specific problem? If so, please let me know the solution so I can get this fixed.

 

You should have a large ground cable from the battery to the engine block, not the car body or frame. You should have smaller gauge wire from the engine block to the body, or from the battery negative post to the body. The big one is the main ground used during starting and charging. The smaller one is the electrical ground to the body for most other items.

EDIT: An arcing alternator sounds like one that is not properly grounded to the engine thru the bracket or the charge wire (big red) is not connected or intermittent, but the alternator is in full charge anyway for some reason such as being a one-wire POS.

 

I have been using #4 audio wire going from my alt to my battery. I switched to a CS144 and have not had anymore alt trouble. I take a piece of 3/8 copper tubing and a hammer and pound it with a little solder over the wire end and then drill a correct size hole to correctly fit the alt lug. I use an audio block with allen screws at the passenger inner fender for my junction since I moved my battery to the trunk. I also use breakers just a few inches from the battery to easily kill power and protect the car. My battery is grounded to the rear hatch motor and rear frame. Audio wire is very good and uses very fine wire. Electricity goes by surface area so the bigger and finer the better. Try to double ground your battery (like I have gone to) and see if that works for you. I like to go to the frame and the closest large metal structure with a large available bolt. I cant count how many times I have had trouble with a CS130 so I went to a CS144 and have had no more trouble.

 

It's a stock unit, and has the one massive power wire from the battery, a 2 wire weatherpak connection, 2 front mounting bolts, and one rear brace to the front driver exhaust manifold bolt. What can I check? Where is the ground exactly? I've been looking forward to rebuilding and upgrading an alternator myself, but haven't had the time with school.

Also, I never mentioned that I have a "Big 3" upgrade wiring from Innovative Wiring. Those wires were bought just over a year ago.

I'm taking a closer look at everything tomorrow and checking my ground points again.

 

The alternator grounds thru the bracket and consequently the engine block. The body of the alternator is at ground potential. Be careful with that upgrade, the first match I got from Google advises running the fat battery negative cable to the chassis. This wrong, the negative battery cable goes to the engine block, usually a cylinder head. The fattest positive wire from the battery goes straight to the starter and then the charge wire coming out of the alternator can go to the battery positive terminal.

The other two wires coming out of the alternator have these jobs in life:

1) is routed to ground thru either an ALT light bulb or a resistor.

2) is key switched to +12V from the battery. It has to be switched or the battery WILL run down overnight.

If either of those things isn't able to do its job, then the alternator wont charge. So a tiny light bulb being out will prevent charging, believe it. Check to make sure 12V is at one terminal of the weatherpak connector when the key is on. You should be able to supply 12V to the other terminal and make the ALT/GEN/(little battery icon) light come on. So unplugging the connector and jumping a wire should make the dash warning light come on when you turn on the key. Once you know witch wire is the switched +12V (the larger of the two I believe, but check for sure), you can check resistance to ground for the other terminal with the key off. There should be relatively low resistance of under 100 Ohms or so, but post your reading if you can get one.

 

afremont - the three bolts that attach to it are stock style, the bracket is stock, but the exhaust manifold bolts are remanufactured to OEM specs. The upgrade has two fat wires, one for the chassis, the other for the block. The ground on the block looked fine, and I know it was tested prior to installation as a good ground since I couldn't remember exactly where it was supposed to go, just the passenger-side block. This battery doesn't run down overnight, but if I don't drive it for two weeks, I'm able to kill it. I'll get a reading tomorrow while I'm at it to get some real data on it. Thanks for the advice.

I did find something obviously wrong... The picture should tell you the rest. Looking back at it, I don't know why I used a bullet-style disconnect instead of a butt connector. The wire disconnects 2 inches away anyway! So, it has been removed along with cooked wire and ruined sheathing. I've been skeptical of it being a fix-all, because the car's voltmeter has always had a bobbing issue. Regardless of if I'm using small or large loads, I can make the voltage drop near 8 without the car stumbling or the lights dimming... The whole electrical system is dominated by gremlins, but I refuse to let them win! Help me kick their aces. Ideas?

-Cornwallis

 

This honestly just sounds like a grounding issue.

Make sure the battery is grounded to a cylinder head, the block is grounded to body AND frame, and the alternator is grounded to the cylinder head as well.

 

You know, I haven't heard that word to specify where on the block the ground goes...

So the ground from the battery to the block was attached to the bottom of the accessory bracket. I attached it to the passenger-side cylinder head, but I don't know if I'm having any more problems, since they were slow to show symptoms.

The rest of the grounds: rear passenger-side cylinder head to chassis (clean firewall) and battery to chassis (clean fender-side) next to battery.

 

Just wanted to update with more info on strangeness in the wiring. I haven't had arcing on my alternator anymore, I think moving the ground from the accessory bracket solved that.

I did just noticed I'm getting corrosion on my negative battery terminal connection. Everything else in the system looks and operates fine, save for the code 54 I just got and am assuming is the f***ed up wiring at the relay(been delaying fixing that for a while.)

I'm patching the connector up until I get a new one from the store, but what could be causing the corrosion at the negative battery connection?