Alternator conversion problems S3, 2.25 engine

[airbornrover]

This is from my original post on the guns and rovers website, thought I would spread the question around.:)

I think I have read most of the material out there for this conversion from the lucas alternator to the delco 10SI. Now I am still having problems all though it will be something simple that I am just not seeing. :confused Charge light was on all the time. Ground wire coming out from the harness is attached to the water pump, brown wire from solenoid is attached to the threaded post on the back of the alternator and the brown light green is attached to post #1. That should be all there is to it. The harness is only 5 yrs old or so. New belt is nice and tight.
Figured out the first 10 SI was bad so I returned it for a new one (warranty), before I took possession of the new re-manned one I made sure that they benched tested and it passed. Turned the engine over with the new alternator and took the meter to the battery while the engine was running and only showed the battery charging around 12.25V or so. Which is way under what it should be showing according to the meter manual. The old man thinks that the alternator is not grounded enough.

Appreciate any advice on this.

Of course it was simple as all hell. Turns out that not running wire from the #2 post on the SI alternator to the BATT post on the back of the alternator or from #2 post to someplace within the fuse block area will not charge your battery and keep your idiot charging light on. Now according to Teriann Wakeman's site you are to connect "after the fuse block load, where all the electrical current load of the vehicle is." To get the most accurate "sensing".

Does anyone have an opinion on which end of the fuse would be best/good to connect to?

[CDNRover]

The warning light should only function when the alternator isn't spinning. It's a 12V from the ignition switch that go to the warning light to the alternator and ground via the alternator brushes. If the light stays on even when the engine is running.. There's a wiring problem. I dunno how you wire it but you can try it like this just to make sure every component work properly.

Connect a wire from your +bat to your warning light
Connect a wire from your warning light to the alternator
Connect a big wire from the alternator to you + bat
Run the engine and the warning light should turn off.
Don't forget to connect the wires to their proper place on the alternator.

You should have something over 13.5volt on your battery while engine running and that voltage will drop once the engine is stopped.
If this work then check your wiring for there's a problem with it.

------ Follow up post added February 28th, 2011 11:19 PM ------

http://www.oldengine.org/unfaq/10si.htm

check this.. It might help?

------ Follow up post added February 28th, 2011 11:22 PM ------

By the way the alternator ground itself from it's attachment to your engine. If your alternator before worked out fine then your engine is properly grounded?

[CDNRover]

It's from the defender wiring but it's the same as for a series III. I have the other wiring diagram but couldn't attach it..

[airbornrover]

That was quick.lol
When I said the charge light was on all the time, I meant in relation to the engine running. (really need to start reading what I type.)
Appreciate the diagram.

[CDNRover]

If I get that right, the light is on only when your engine is running?

[airbornrover]

yeah. I figured out through re-reading Wakeman's site and another site from a guy in Arizona ( I think) that I had not wired up the #2 contact on the rear side of the alternator to either the BATT + terminal or run a wire back to somewhere on the fuse block from the #2 contact. When I went to double check if my mistake of not wiring up the #2 was the reason for the light being on while the engine ran and for not charging the battery properly, it proved correct.

According to Wakeman's site It is best if you wire to a point at the fuse block to get the most accurate sensing cause then it takes into account the whole of the circuit with the entire vehicle.

What I am trying to figure out is which contacts on the fuse block are good for this.
As you can tell I am not the best at this electric dohickie stuff.

[Ren Ching]

What I am trying to figure out is which contacts on the fuse block are good for this.
As you can tell I am not the best at this electric dohickie stuff.

See if there is an extra spade on the brown side of the fuse block, that is 12v always hot, and feeds the rest of the circuits. Or you can trace that wire back to the starter solenoid mounted to the aircleaner bracket. That big brown spade on there should have a smaller terminal that is supposed to feed the sense wire.

Are you using the plug on the side of the alternator? Those are you sense feed and warning light connections. You need to make up a harness for this. And the big brown wire should probably get changed for a slightly larger one while you are at it.

[airbornrover]

Placed the wire on the #5 terminal in the fuse block. Everything seems to be running ok now.