Today I finally wired my alternator to my external voltage regulator from Napa. I received the schematics for my truck as follows ( F goes to the field terminal, S goes to the Stator terminal, A goes to the battery terminal, I goes to the Voltage light in the cab) I turned the key hoping everything was finally connected correctly but then smoke came from underneath the dash to the ignition. When I inspected where the smoke was coming from, it came from a red wire in which has two red wires connected to the adapter for the ignition. I believe that something was not grounded correctly for example the Alternator. Before cranking the engine, I used a volt meter to test the coil which was receiving power & the same for the starter relay. Does anyone have any idea what went wrong?

 

May be this will help
Orich

 

Big, the alternator should be grounded. Pull it back and check to see. If not, ground it.
The smoking red (battery) at the switch indicates a short to ground at or after the switch. Pull off the battery terminal and start using the ohmmeter on the Rx1 scale. You will see zero ohms. Start poking and hunting, disconnecting until you find the problem. Be especially suspicious of what you worked on.
These things can be a bear.

 

I checked the red wire after grounding the alternator & as I moved the wire around the blinkers would turn on & off. When trying to crank the engine nothing would happen while moving the red wire around. I did not mention before that I have an electronic ignition in which before my truck was running fine until I found out that there was not an external voltage regulator & the battery almost blew up, that's why I'm in this situation now. The schematics show correct wiring without the electronic ignition module. I will post pics in my album.

 

I just had to say Thank You for your service

 

Big, we can't help you much with the information you provide. Red wires don't tell us much.
1) Why did you add a voltage regulator? You said the thing was running before. Were you running without charging?
2) The smoke starts after you turn on the ignition switch? Are the red wires after the ignition switch? Where do they go? Unhook, stop the smoke.
You are going to start disconnecting stuff and working with the ohmmeter. Or, you are headed for an engine or dashboard fire.
I wish that I and we could help you more.

 

(1) Yes I was driving without a charging system.
(2) I added the external Voltage regulator due to the battery was about to explode while having my pregnant wife at the time. I asked the previous owner if there was an external voltage regulator installed, he had no clue what I was talking about. Then & there I knew I had a lot of electrical work ahead of me.

What is confusing me is the electronic ignition that was installed, it does not show an electronic ignition in the schematics. I am a novice when it comes to electrical but I have plenty of time on my hands. I would like to to see if my starter will crank the engine. Once I can hear that I know that I'm on the right track.

I apologize for not being able to explain which red wire I'm talking about. All I can say is after unplugging the connector to the ignition is that the red wire has a yellow or gold line & is also connected with a solid 16 awg red wire.

After all this it will not crank over... I need all the help from my FTE Family. Thanks from Bigpain2000

 

Does the alternator have a pulley fan or none but just the pulley.
If no fan then it's a 3g autolite higher amperage output could be 90-130amps

If it has a pulley fan it mostly a Autolite, it may have 3 or 4 wire going to it.
It could be a 37 or 60 amps alternator..

How do you know the battery was ready to explode??

I know some Exide batteries had some problems doing that during starting.

Or any open flames close to the vent caps can get one to explode in your face.

Orich

 

I have a 3G alternator, what I noticed is that the back of my alternator touches the the engine block. I will need a new bracket so I can reverse the way it is set up now. I would have the adjustable bracket underneath instead of on top. Any ideas where I can purchase one of those.

As far as the battery, by the time we made it home I popped the hood & could smell a rotten egg smell along with the the battery just bulging at the sides with the acid coming out slightly.

 

The 3G does not use an external regulator. Check HioSilver's tech compilation sticky at the top of our page. I believe in there is info on how to wire up the 3G.

 

I do not have a 3G alternator. I have one that has the field, Stator, positive & negative. My head lights work along with the blinkers but it just won't crank over. I've tested the starter relay & I have 12V running through it. What else should I check? At this time I'm checking the wires that lead to the ignition.

 

Double check where you wired the reg in. By accident instead of the wire going to the alt gauge or idiot light, you might have grabbed the wire from ignition switch to the "s" terminal on the solenoid.

 

I used a screwdriver on the starter solenoid & the engine was turning. At times after removing the screwdriver the engine was still turning. I tried to give it gas but nothing then I hurried to unplug the battery to shut it down. While doing so the positive & negative cables were hot. I could hear the battery bubbling inside. When the engine was turning it was very sluggish. What could be the cause of the cables to become hot. There has to be a grounding problem so where should I look?

 

Sounds to me the problem is in the solenoid. Grounded internally. Change that with a quality one and all problems will vanish IMHO.

 

This is brand new one that I bought from Napa. Yesterday was the first time it was actually used. I looked at the schematics that you sent & the plug in wire on the right side of the solenoid goes to the + of the coil but my wire from the coil runs to the cabin. I am not sure if you can see it in my albums? I really appreciate your help Jeff. You've helped me alot, I know it seems like I am not getting it but please be patient with me Thanks.