LIGHT ALWAYS ON!!!!


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By Apache - 17 Years Ago
I did the GM alt. conversion. And I noticed that the GEN light is ALWAYS ON..Even when I don't have the key in it...

I noticed some people say there's has been on, but i don't know if that means always or while driving... Well, i did it a week agoi right b4 i left for TN. Came back, now my battery is as dead as a doornail and can;t get the motor turned back over now...

WHAT'S UP WITH THIS!?!?!?!?

I'm guessin that light always on is a VEYR BAD THING!!!???

By Rebelliousengineering® - 17 Years Ago
The reason why the light is suppose to come on is to show that the battery is not charging so theoretically you could have wired it wrong I would say check a wire diagram make sure you have the correct wire going to the battery or if you did that correct I don’t know what alt your running I switched to a gm alt a while ago using the external stock regulator but now that I just rebuilt the engine and I'm welding up the fire wall and cleaning that area all up I'm getting rid of the regulator and putting in a single wire gm alt. so all you have is one wire going to the battery positive side and then you have the charging light. i hope this helps and i hope all this makes some sense and let me know if im wrong in any way i like to learn from mistakes but i just said what i know.
By GREENBIRD56 - 17 Years Ago
I put a 70's style GM "one wire" 100 AMP on my bird - but still don't have a great scheme to make the idiot light work. For basic power ran from the alternator to a RH fenderwell lighting fuse block and from there around to the battery post of the starter solenoid with #6 welding cable/soldered ends. There is zero voltage drop over to the battery post ..... when the lights are off.

The lighting fuse block (six fused circuits) makes it possible to have 30 amp lighting relays out there and simply control them with the usual wiring from the interior switches. Makes the high powered H4 lights I put in work like a new beemer. Two do headlights (seperate high/low), one does the horns and one is designated to power an AC clutch. Leaves two more for fog lights(?) and whatever (remote electric trigger for paintball gun in grill to mark cell phone idiots?).

I had a Mercury Cougar that used a simple diode to operate the charging light and may just copy that to eventually get the bird charging light to work. The cat used a wire to each end of the main cable between the battery and the solenoid post, fed back to the dash in a loop with a diode and lamp to detect polarity. Power feeding to battery (alt. higher volts than bat.) no light - power feed from battery to solenoid - lamp on. I think this will do the trick but it may need some testing to get the scheme worked out.

By Y block Billy - 17 Years Ago
Should have left the old generator in it, everything I have still runs generators and only once had a problem, cleaned the contacts in the regulator at a scrub lovers garage and had it working like a charm in 5 minutes. if you have a problem with the alternator you will have to dispose of it and buy a new one like most scrub parts and engines, as disposable as bic lighters.

The scrub lover was floored that I didn't have to change regulators, alternators/generators etc etc etc to get it running again like he would have to do. That was 4 years ago and it is still charging fine.

By Apache - 17 Years Ago
ok..checked the wiring, it's all correct, but still, when the car is not running, even when the key is out, the gen light stays on...

shoudl i just yank the bulb? I'm just worried that somethin else might be on always and drain teh battery? I'm not a wiring guru so.. Throw some TV,and sound equipment wires at me and i'm golden, but i'm a newbie at car wiring

By Ted - 17 Years Ago
I’ve the one wire alternator on my ’55 Customline and have the light hooked up as follows.  The pigtail wire on the alternator closest to the battery connection on the back of alternator hooks to that connection.  The other pigtail wire runs to the light.  The alternator actually has to be sped up slightly to start the charge circuit so if the engine starts and idles extremely slow, it’s possible for the light to be on until the engine rpms come up.