Trying to get my Z on the road after being parked for a few years

Years ago I did a mod that moved my Alt to the AC compressor position while retaining the PS - basically a modified acc bracket with an extra pulley in the old alt position (no modification to pulley speed)

In getting the Z running - I replaced the battery and have been cleaning and replacing a few worn parts etc.

I noticed that my dash battery indicator read about 1/2 way in the red so I decided to check the ALT

engine off my battery read 12.6 at the poles, engine on it reads 11.9
reading at pole of ALt matches that at batt

checked exciter wire to ALt reads 12v when ignition turned on

removed alt and took it to local shop. It underwent a simple bench test that showed volts in the 14-16 range and lower than expected amps it seemed to bounce around from 50-90 but at the end of the test the machine gave the ALT the green "working" diagnosis - so the shop said the ALt was preforming to at least minimal standards

checked fuses and all my gauges and lights work

I even went as far as pulling the ground while the engine was running to see if the ALt could run things and the engine died immediately (I know, not recommended but I had to see if it was doing anything).

I checked to see if the belt was slipping and it is not - the alt does not seem to be putting any stress on the belt at all

I even attached an extra ground cable to the ALT housing connected to the frame in case the ground connection was sub par.

So I tested the ALT, exciter wire, cable to battery, ground and confirmed that alt was spinning, I also tested the output at the ALT.

As the ALT is reading the same at the BAT 12.5 off, 11.9 engine on - I'm concluding that the ALT is not working but that flies in the face of the bench test.

The car is not insured so I have not been able to do a real test in on road conditions.

The ALt in the AC position while great for working on the top of the engine makes working on the ALt a PITA,

I'm also out in the boonies so finding another fbody to do a alt swap with to test is not feasible.

I'm really frustrated with this as it's not complicated but I'm at the end of my rope.

any suggestions? thanks

 

If the car is starting and will stay running then the battery, starter, and alternator are doing there jobs. It goes ignition, battery to the starter then rotates the crank and once the engine turns over the alternators function is the keep the battery charged while the car is running. Im wondering if that when you start your car will it sit there and idle and not die, can you drive it i live out in the boonies also and that said there has to be somewhere you can take it for a test drive. Even though if the car will idle for over ten minutes then the charging system is most likely good to go. One time i bought a brand new battery and from the shop it came out defective which led me to searching for other things. The battery turned out to have a bad cell which caused my car not to start due to the starter not getting enough power from the battery to crank the engine. Anyway enough of the bull if it starts and idles and will do so for a good ten minutes that means the battery isnt wearing down due to the alternator not charging so the charging system is good to go. You need to test drive though. Another problem could be and this is what i figure if your having charging problems would be your cars configuration. I would put the alternator back in its original position, and buy an ac delete off of ebay comes with pulley for about forty buck put it on and then see if you have a problem because that belt has to be at a set tug on those pulleys or this will lead to charging problems also.

 

I would say that the alternator is not putting out amps, especially bouncing around 50~90... And being in that low area, the alternator is more susceptible to the elements...

Or it could be a defective wire, pulling to many Ohms????

 

Just had it running for about 10 minutes, had the lights, fan and radio on and tested volts at the battery and at the rear of the ALT in both cases it read 11.8-11.9, to the lower end when I reved the engine.

The dash gauge sits at the 1/4 mark rather than at the 1/2 way mark where I should and used to sit, as well I am not seeing the 14+V everyone says I should see if the Alt is working properly.

Next step after the holiday weekend will be to get the darn thing retested and see if I can find a spare to try out.

Slick-Z : I have an ac delete bracket but my Acc bracket has been modified so i can't go back to stock with it - am looking locally for an acc bracket but am thinking the problem must be elsewhere if the alt spins,