Logical1 Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 Hey all, my alternator died about a month ago and I though 'its old, replace it!' bought a nice 60 amp Bosch and put it in. everything worked great so I was happy but now I just drove to work about a mile and a half... wouldn't re-start! Put a charger on the battery, charged it for a bit. Started her up disconnected the battery. Car died. Now I charged it up started her and pulled the alternator wiring and tested its current send. about half a volt... dead alternator again! WTF! I did some of the other obvious testing E.G. Battery positive to the the terminal and no draw with the car off. No obvious shorts.... My Dime's wiring is not in great shape for sure but damn, killing alternators?!?!?!? Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment
HRH Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 Have you replaced the voltage regulator? Quote Link to comment
DISLEXICDIME Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 60 amp isnt that internally regulated? aren't the stock 510 35amp? if it is the internally regulated one then you need to unplug the voltage regulator and jump the wires heins did a write up on it you might be able to search and fined it Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 A bad voltage regulator can cause these symptoms. They have 60A hitachis that are internally regulated, and those that are not. Perhaps you have the wrong type. Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 dont you ck the alternator with it running and see if you have over say 12.5 volts or better yet like 13.4 -14.1 volts will be good. Use a digital meter. and see what it says on the spot. you got good battery cables???????Clean them first and ck the ends. If old replace them anyways. sometimes ck the voltage at the cable end then ck rith at the lead batter post as there can be a layer of corrossion and the voltage drop will be HUGE!!!! if voltage wonders around was a Internal reg alternato used instead of a external type or vise a very cause you never said if you wired your car up for a inter volt reg alternato SO WE WILL ASSUME ITS STOCK!!!!!!!!! all elase fails so to frank and Jeffs place on Oaks street in Everett Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 Digital or analog Voltage meter is fine. It should be 13.5 to 15.0 volts when running engine at least 1200 RPM. If so, the voltage regulator is fine. But note that if the battery is bad, or flat, it may be lower. So make sure the battery is fully charged before testing the alternator/regulator. Quote Link to comment
Logical1 Posted July 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Thanks for the Idea's and Info, I did several other checks and was convinced the alternator was dead again! I needed to get to Seattle on monday so I searched craigslist for an alternator found a guy close that was selling an older 240z alternator for $5 So I charged up the battery and drove up to DatsunDaves. This guy has a Beautiful 240z that is just cherry: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2635267 And it turns out he builds wiring harness of all types for Datsuns! He said pull it in and we will through that alternator in! So of course I did and we put the new alt in no time at all, started her up: Nothing! So obviously we couldn't believe it was another bad alt cause it was working for him. So we set out doing several tests and just couldn't suss it out! we changed regulators, nothing. Tried the internal regulated alt bypass, Nothing! Busted out the complete 510 wiring diagram and started tracing all lines to/from still couldn't figure out. The P.O.S. on the wiring was just frustrating as hell! Starting to pull my hair out, I took a chance that maybe the accessory line from my ignition to the regulator might have shorted/broken, ran a new line and viola! we got charge :) Damn do I owe this guy! He still only wanted to charge me $5 for the old alt but I kicked him some extra cash for sure! Now I can get around for now but I want to COMPLETELY Re-Wire the car. However I am setting up some crazy custom electronics so I don't want to just get a new wiring harness and put it in. I am looking into pulling EVERYTHING and only wiring the bare minimum for engine running and battery charging, no lights, nothing else at all. I want to even remove the fuse box for my own larger gauge custom one eventually. Anybody have any links or idea's on some documentation for this? I have the wiring diagrams and books but they have all the wiring so interconnected it would be very tough to extract the wiring just for the engine/alt/ignition/batt. On a side note based on my engine/trany/breakes Dave was able to ascertain that they pulled all of that out of a late 70's 200sx Which I had been trying to figure out on couple other threads I had posted! Yay! The 200SX is what my L20B came from but I've also heard it came in the 620 "Bullet-side" trucks, 78'-79' 510's and later 200SX's. I found this online...... "The L20B was a 1952cc engine produced from 1975 through 1985. It produces 100 hp (75 kW) in 1981 form with 112 lb Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 (edited) The 200SX is what my L20B came from but I've also heard it came in the 620 "Bullet-side" trucks, 78'-79' 510's and later 200SX's. I found this online...... L20Bs were used in the 620 from '75 through '79. The first year '80 720 also used the L20B for that one year before switching to the new Z22 motor. The L20B was also used in the '78-'79 A-10. (late 510) The '80 A-10 used the new Z20S motor. Other Datsuns that had L20Bs in them: '74-'76 610 '75-'77 710 "The L20B was a 1952cc engine produced from 1975 through 1985. It produces 100 hp (75 kW) in 1981 form with 112 lb Edited July 27, 2009 by datzenmike Quote Link to comment
Logical1 Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 datzenmike, your knowledge is truly amazing! alot of what you quoted was what DatsunDave sent me but is the most solid evidence of what I have in my Frankenstein. I honestly always appreciate your posts as they are strait forward informative and helpful! It did take me a while to get used to my pattern but now I love it endlessly! Only thing about the set-up that seems weird to me is I top out 80mph @ 6.5k rpm in 5'th... not that I NEED to drive that much faster but still! I'm still investigating what got swapped out and what didnt. The hunt continues! Quote Link to comment
banzai510(hainz) Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 (edited) show me what wire was open from this diagram this statement i dont get?????????? I am looking into pulling EVERYTHING and only wiring the bare minimum for engine running and battery charging, no lights, nothing else at all. You want to keep this on the road or keep it in a state of ever lasting work on the side of the house. Personally you owe this guy big time. But if you couldnt figure this out yourself then dont redo a whole wiring assembly. I hat to see another 510 lost in the world of projects never completed. Edited July 27, 2009 by banzai510(hainz) Quote Link to comment
DISLEXICDIME Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 i remember my dog leg after i putt an a87 head on my l20 dual crabs and 2inch exhaust it died they just cant take that much beating when you use a 2 liter in front of them. Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Yes, I'm with Hainz * an entirely new wiring system may solve the problem. * But charging circuit is so simple, 2 wires is all you need to test if the alternator works, or what's wrong Quote Link to comment
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