Battery drain?

I took the alt wire off the positive terminal, then touched the test light to the neg cable (off) and the neg battery terminal; no light!!! I removed the alternator and took it to be tested. Failed every test. PO had only wired the red plug wire back to the back of the alternator and left the white wire taped up and connected to nothing. I installed the new unit and ran the white wire to the pole on the coil where my electric fuel pump is connected. Put the test lamp on like before and it lit up. Still draining! I cranked her up to check the belt tension and alignment, ran great! Turned the key to off and it just kept running! I disconnected the coil wire to shut it down. Surely these are seperate issues. I need all the advice I can get. Thanks

 

what pole of the coil are you connecting the fuel pump to?

That very well could be your battery drain.

And check wiring diagrams for that alternator.

Take the white wire back off of the coil terminal. That is probably what caused the engine to continue running.

 

I believe the white should be connected to a power source that is only live when the key is in the on position. Suggestions?

 

One fix is to put a diode in series with the white wire. This will prevent the alternator from back-feeding to the coil when you turn the key off.

Lots of coverage on the net - https://www.google.com/search?q=alternator backfeed diode

 

Sounds like you have the ignition switch wired up wrong...or it could be you still have the alternator wired wrong...

ETA...a closeup pic of the rear of your alternator & another of your alternator to battery wiring might help...

 

Another way to deal with back-feeding is to connect terminal 1 (the white wire) to the ignition switch through a light bulb (the alternator light). The coil is still connected to the alternator through the ignition switch terminal, but the resistance of the bulb is enough to block the self-generated power from the alternator from back-feeding.

Jeep uses a resistance wire.

 

What alternator are you using. Autolite/prestolite, Delco etc. Are you using the little speedo cluster indicator light (gen/alt/chg), or volt/amp meter? All this helps to troubleshoot the problem.

 

From the description and since it likely did not come with the Jeep, I was guessing it's a Delco 10SI. But maybe not.

 

It's a logical assumption & I've been thinking along the same line...a lot of these problems could be avoided if the people who swap the old externally regulated models to the 10SI would just put the correct connector on.

I think a pic or two might solve his problem.

 

This help: https://www.google.com/search?q=alt...tors.com%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D985269;679;516

 

New development! I ran the white wire straight to the "on" terminal of the ignition. The jeep will now turn off when the ignition is in the off position; however now my test light shows a drain whether the alt wire is connected to the battery or not. The red wire is connected to the rear terminal on the alt and the directions say run a wire from that terminal to an ammeter or junction box. I don't have an ammeter and am not really sure about what or where a junction box is. I would like to put up a pic of the back of the alt but I'm not very good with computers or alternators! LOL. I really appreciate everyone's help and patience. Thanks

 

What kind of alternator do you have? If it's a Delco, are the spade terminals orientated in the same position or is one vertical & the other horizontal?

 

I replaced the 3 wire alt with a single terminal model. I checked every wire under the hood an can't find anything wrong. Even with the new unit I still only get the drain when the wire from the alt to the battery is connected. I am going to turn my attention to under the dash. A wire comes from the alt to my light switch. Not sure what I'm looking for. Thanks again

 

Something is not clear here. You said you replaced the alternator with a one wire unit but then say you have a wire going to the battery and one to the ignition switch?


Sent from my iPhone

 

Does your alt look like this? https://www.google.com/search?q=int...tech%2Fbillavista%2FWiring%2FPart2%2F;398;288 or are your terminals parrallel to each other, or in line with each other? This is a Delco Si alt.

 

Good how to: http://mightymo.org/Proj_OneWire.html

 

One terminal unit. Thx

 

Yes 1960cj5 thanks

 

But you also said you have a wire going to your ignition switch from the alternator. Can you elaborate?


Sent from my iPhone

 

So you've got it sorted out right?