Zedyone_kenobi

time flies guys. My new alternator comes in Monday. I will try just adding the regulator cap to see if that fixes things before I swap out the alternator. I have high hopes

Love this discussion. I am learning a LOT. As a mechanical engineer, I do not look at wiring diagrams hardly ever. So this is a great review of circuits. Z cars have so much to teach!

So, while the failure seems possibly diagnosed, lets talk about why. What makes the alternator stop charging if that diode burns out. I have been looking a LOT at a 72 wiring diagram (I do not have a nice color 71 Z wiring diagram). I am trying to find something that looks like a feedback loop with a sense input, internal regulation and finally, output happens. I assumed the white wire with the red stripe coming out of the back of the alternator was the output voltage back to the fusebox and battery respectively. Is the T connector used in the feedback loop which tells the alternator to 'activate'

I already have another MSA alternator kit coming from MSA as we speak. It will be here in a few days. When I was just SURE it was the alternator I ordered one. But now it may look like I have a spare. It will come with the bypass clip for the Voltage regulator and I will swap it out then. If I had a spare diode laying around I could just solder up one with clips, but I am pretty sure I do not have one.

Okay, I went into the electrical lab at work and borrowed a Fluke. with the Multimeter on Ohms, with the leads going red to black (left to right) on the two pins with the diode the Resistance is 23M Ohms with the leads going black to red (left to right) on the two pins with the diode the Resistance is 1 M Ohms I then switched the Multimeter to Diode Tester. Red to black or black to red the Multimeter read OL.

copy, that, I just read my new multimeter has a diode testor function. I will give it a go when I get home. Great Advice as usual SteveJ!

okay, there is a diode in there, now I need to see what it would mean if the diode was in fact bad, and what that failure would manifest it self as

interesting find. I checked the voltage regulator cap that you must install when you use an internally regulated Alternator. The 4 pins resistance was as follows. The two pins OL had a very dark patch on the back. I need to find out if there is a diode in there.

Now I have no idea what the test read, as it only comes back with a big green check. No voltage out put was displayed. According to the 72 Z wiring diagram the red/white wire runs back to the fusebox, so that seems like it should be supplying the car with power after the car starts. My problem is that the wiring diagram shows the voltage regulator and I am running an internally regulated alternator. So I have to figure our which wire it is that should be charging my battery and which is supplying the car with power (me thinks red'white)

The alternator tested a big green check at the parts store. However, I tried to test to find any out put from the T connector while the alternator was running well I got nothing, but it would see that it fried my volt meter LOL LOL. I am sure I should have measured the red/white wire from the back of the alternator instead. But now I have to get a fuse for my voltmeter or a brand new voltmeter... which would not be horrible.

Okay update All fuses are okay. One of the female spades in the "T" connector has 12.7 volts with the key off. The key in the Run position reads 11.8V but that also powering a electric fuel pump, so that is fine

Worry not my good man, your words of advice will not go unheeded. I will check out those parts this evening when I get home. A simple Alternator test is just one more part of the equation. It is simple and free.

I am currently running the MSA 60 amp alternator kit. It was purchased back in 2010. All my tests were at the battery. After I get the alternator tested, I will run the tests SteveJ mentioned. If the alternator comes back bad, then issue solved.

I pulled the alternator this morning (wearing my osha white safety socks - those who have followed my Z build will understand) and plan on taking it to get tested this afternoon. None of my connections were lose or corroded. No matter what I do the amperage never changes or moves with revs and the battery will NOT read more than 12.3 volts.

I will report back to what I am getting out of these wires later this evening. I will also double check the connections and clean all terminals carefully. I will inspect all wires for fraying and damage. I may have a spare MSA alternator in my parts bin. I could just swap that in to see if I get a different result. Car has never really had any real electrical issue since I purchased it in 2008. Had a light stalk issue once, but that turned out to be a bad connection that Dave helped me troubleshoot. Good times.

NO I have not done that yet. I will pull that plug and check the quality of those fittings this evening. Had to run to work this morning despite my need to fiddle with cars. What kinds of voltage signals should I be getting from those two wires?

yup, that is what I am thinking. 12.3 volts while running is telling me my alternator is clearly not working. Well that is what I am thinking.

Greetings friends!!! Been a while and I have been having lots of fun with kids and fishing and what not. But the Z car has been on a roll lately. I replaced the carbs with more carbs. and I finally have it back to running like a champ. In fact it is running and revving like it used to. Happy days! The peasants were happy! Having said that. I took her for a spin the other day to keep fresh fuel running through the system and just generally keeping it running. Old cars hate to sit. As you all know. Important factoid: I keep my cars on a battery tender any time they are not running to preserve the batteries. I pulled back into the drive way and light footed it and stalled it. After a bit of laughter, I tried to start it and had the annoying clicking of a dead battery. Which is strange as I keep the car on a battery tender all the time. I hooked up the charger for about 2 hours and then the car started fine and I Pulled it in. Now the plot thickens. So something was up. My thoughts are that the battery is about 5-6 years old and it is not unusual for a battery to be DOA after 5 years in the Houston heat. I left it on the battery tender all night and in the morning I disconnected it and it read 12.2 volts. Which seemed a tad low. But maybe not. So as I am oft to do, I started overthinking the issue and that leads to, (more times than not), spending money. Since I was using the original starter that came with the car still (it had never let me down), I talked myself into thinking that the solenoid may be going bad (even though those are usually working, or not, no clicking issue), so now would be a rather handy time to replace that old grimy and dirty Z starter for a shiny new gear reduction starter :) And since I bought a new starter I decided to go ahead and buy a new battery as well while I was at it. Surely that would solve the issue. Well a week later and both were procured and installed. First let me say the gear reduction starter is the coolest sounding starter EVER. Sounds like you are about to start a 1000HP Big block Chevy. LOVE it. Car ran beautifully and started each time. Fast forward to today. I was going to drive in to work in the old gal to bless those in the NASA area with something besides a black or grey SUV to look at. Again this morning I disconnected the batter tender and it started just peachy. But I started to think about many things. There was no reason for my battery to really die before. I had replaced everything BUT the alternator. So just to verify, with the car running, I whipped out my multimeter and checked the voltage of the battery. (I checked it by attaching the multimeter to the positive post and the negative post) With the car at a rock steady 900 rpm, the battery read 12.3 volts. When I revved the engine it read 12.3 volts. It would flicker to 12.4 volts. Now I am thinking my alternator may not be charging. It is my belief that a running car should put out north of 13 volts from the alternator. I am running an old MSA 60 amp alternator kit. My plans going forward are to start up the roadster and see what its alternator puts out while running as a sanity check. Any comments?

View Advert Cannon Manifold for L6 engine for Weber DCOE carbs (or Mikuni) Selling my Cannon Manifold. Was installed for 5 years, and then replaced with a different design. The Rod that houses the arms for actuating the Triples was replaced with an oversized rod that has far more robustness and will not bend or deflect. Note that when buying arms to actuate your carbs. Asking 275 dollars. Advertiser Zedyone_kenobi Date 03/26/2024 Price $275 Category Parts for Sale

Ever since I bought these new webers nothing has worked quite right. I am starting from scratch. Again. want to get my float squared away before I touch another dang think. Where are my Weber heads.

Long story which I will summarize later but does anybody have a Keith frank clear acrylic float adjuster rod with the markings on it. I have misplaced mine and my old eyes really needed that.

Yah, that is about 15 miles south of me. I may take my truck and fill up 3-4 5 gallon jugs. May be fine. But ethanol really wreaks havok. Could have bought a bunch of gas for how much 3 new webers and a sonic cleaner cost, LOL

unfortunately, all the fuel around here is ethanol based. Very difficult to find anything besides that crap.

I adore SUs. great carb. But I recall the performance bump with triples when I went from my New Z therapy SUs to webers. Cannot go back. these ran perfectly for 11 years with no adjustments. Only sitting still killed them I plan to clean them up again one more time if nothing else I have spare parts

Did you guys really just tell me how to burn 600 dollars!! Lolol my boys are 15 and 10 now. time Flies. I spent 2 hours today meticulously adjusting carbs. Linkages to jets. All my cylinders are flowing dead even right now. I finally have my idle R 13.0:1 and it’s smooth at 900 rpm. Throttle response is crisp. I am going to let it cool down over night and see how it cold starts. It fired up today at 41 degrees with zero choke. So I am close. I tried to order those brass shifter bushings. Motorsport auto was back ordered. So just put new clear OEM ones back in. Miss you guys. Z has been suffering from a lack of driving. These old cars do not like to sit