i did the V6EFI to carb V8 swap, and have the engine running. I put the old style alternator on it, the one with the two wire plug in. I have the black wire that comes in from the cab to the plug in that goes to the alt, then i have a red wire that comes out of the plug in that goes to the small post on the back of the alt, then a wire that goes from that small post to the battery. my boss said that I do not have any power turning on the regulator, he also said that it should have 6-8 volts on it and not 12. he talked about putting in a ballast resistor from a 12v ignition source to turn it on. anyone run into this problem, this is last problem I have.....well atleast right now.

 

He's wrong.

Does it charge?

Thought so.

 

It needs to see a 12v source with key on only. When you pulled out the original wiring for the V6, did you trace the wires back into the PCM harness? If you did you should have found that small wire teed off into the PCM and the main body harness. This is the trigger wire for the alternator. As I recall it should be a small, 16 ga, wire that is dark brown. You need to check this and trace it back to the junction block near the master cylinder. You may find the source for this goes back to the ignition switch.
On my car, since it no longer sees street duty, I just ran a new trigger wire out to this terminal. Don't use a resistor.

 

originally there was a black wire, tan/black wire, and a big red one going to the alt. i hooked the black one back up, took out the tan one, and ran a wire from the small post to the battery. i got the alt that i had on there tested and it was junk so i got a new one. i broke the engine in last night, and it looked like it was charging, even though the guage was reading only 13, but the lights werent dim, and it restarted several times.

 

ok wait guys the little wire on the plugin on the alt goes to a power source that is only on when the car is on? if so can i just run a wire from the fuse panel that only has power when the key is on to this wire and will it work? right now i have the big wire from the back post to the battery and the red wire from the plug in to the starter cause thats where is was with the tbi, no i duno wut the other wire is but its small and tan with a white stripe. ooh and by the way i ripped out my computer and ran a carb so wut do i do? thanks so much

 

i dont know if that wire is supposed to have a full 12v or not

 

Yes that must see a full 12v signal with key on only. If you tap into a constant 12v source the alt will then drain the bat when you shut off engine. On my car I did use a pickup point in the fuse panel as I now have a number of unused circuits, however I am not sure that this is adviseable for a daily ride. Where I only go short stints at the track or occasional tuning at home, etc this is not a problem. Best advice is to trace the problem back to the source and correct it. And yes I know it's a major pain in the butt but with electrical problems shortcuts are not the best solution.

 

wait so why is running it into the fuse panel on sumthing 12v when the key is on a problem for a dailky driver? i have my fuel pump and fan into the fuse panel 12v key on

 

Well I would be more inclined to ask what else is on the circuit you want to tap into. As I said, there is now a bunch of unused circuits on my fuse panel, i.e. fuses pulled to kill circuit that has been removed or wires cut out harness. There may indeed be no adverse affects but where is the break in the circuit that feeds this wire initially? A live broken (possibly) wire is not good thing to have in your car, it really needs to be traced and either bypassed or fixed.