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Old November 1st, 2016, 01:14 AM
James James is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Greer, SC
Truck: 1964 GMC 1500 2wd
Age: 69
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Default Re: GMC 1962 starter solenoid wiring

Quote:
Originally Posted by TJ's GMC View Post
Run the engine, check voltage. Then turn on Lights, Heater, and anything else that draws power. If the voltage has dropped but is remaining steady the alternator is maintaining, but if the voltage is steadily dropping and not Stopping the alternator is either not working or not wired correctly. It's a common thing for voltage regulators to go bad causing an appearance that the alternator is bad, but as old as it is...new ones are cheap and cheap insurance. You can get a new regulator to, I would recommend converting to a 1 wire though. One wire from alternator to battery positive and then hook up the gauge and your good to go.
Connecting the alternator directly to the battery will disable the battery amp meter (meter will always reads zero).

Using a one wire alternator can cause other symptoms (I have experience this problem). If there is not quite perfect connection on every junctions (a connection with a slight amount of corrosion) you could experience a low voltage condition (like your headlight blinking only with the turn signal on or dim headlights when the heater is on). This is cause by the way the alternator is referencing the system voltage. On a one wire alternator it is sense in the alternator. On a normal system it is sense at a common junction point (usually behind the dash) and will dampen this effect. If you have a new harness then there should be no problem what type of alternator you use.
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