Alternator Humiliation
 

Sad but true...

I converted to an internally-regulated alternator a LONG time ago and used an American Autowire conversion plug at the external regulator connector to maintain the GEN light function.

I never had the engine running until last fall and never saw the GEN light come on, so I assumed all was well at the time.

Fast forward to making progress on getting car drivable and discovered the battery was not getting charged.

I first confirmed battery voltage was reaching the BAT terminal, so the connector at the starter was good. This made me happy because I didn't have to crawl under the car to look for that mistake.

I then verified the alternator ground was solid.

Pulled the adapter plug off the regulator connector and verified 12V was reaching the brown wire when the ignition switch was "ON".

When I went to put the adapter plug back on, I happened to look inside and found this:
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1709336213


DOH! :doh:

When I last put that adapter plug on, the two center terminals had been pushed sideways and failed to mate with the terminals in the connector. The housing is rubber, which didn't help, but still on me...

Happy ending - I plugged the adapter in as it was designed and all is well!

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1709335837

Easiest fix ever, but perhaps one of the most humiliating...

And to make it worse, I never noticed the GEN light wasn't coming on when the switch was turned to ON position.

Double DOH!

:doh::doh:

.................................................. ........................

Mike

Don’t feel bad, at least you where not stuck somewhere and had to pay a large flatbed bill to get back home.

I once thought I had a dead electric fuel pump because I could read 12 volts at its power connector which was right there at the pump.

I pull the pump and as I walk passed the front of the car I decided to give it one last chance and jumped it across the battery and it ran just fine.

I walk back to the rear of the car, confirm the 12 volts , plug it in and I get zip!

I repeat this all again and check then check the pumps power connector and only 3 strands of wire out of many more where in the crimp that I made .

Lesson learned, voltmeters only need .0002 amps to produce a reading.

There are worse things than Humiliation...

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...6&d=1709344173

Frank

You still have genius status compared to the stuff I see every week in the repair business, myself included, from time to time. Easy fix, no harm done. Can't get better than that.

Oh, trust me, I've made at least two bigger mistakes in my life.

And that fuel pump story is classic deception. Volts and amps and ohms all matter.

But the worst rat under any hood is an intermittent contact. I happily escaped that one this round and I solved it with my own AI...or at least LI.

Agreed.
 

I work a parts counter. The endless stupid questions...I feel your pain. :D