Alternator help

[RunninWild]

This isn't a vw questions but my Suzuki forum is down and figured an alternator is an alternator. I have a vw 1.6td in a Suzuki samurai. I've finally got most of the bugs worked out of the swap and feel pretty confident the truck is ready for daily driving.

I just finished off the last of the to do list fired it up and couldn't get any power from the alternator. I was originally running the stock samurai alternator which has a 2 or 3 wire plug plus the battery cable. This has always worked after the swap (albeit with a low output: 45amp I think)

I just installed a gm 110amp 1 wire alternator and couldn't get it to power on. Tried revving the engine to get the self exciter to ignite but no luck. The alignment with my home made bracket was a bit off and I could smell the belt burning a bit (wasn't smoking or screaming) so I just decided to throw on the old alternator. Now I can't get any output from it either.

I tried measuring voltage from the terminal directly on the alternator with no luck.

I also tried a jumper cable directly from the output to my battery (to rule out the fusible link) with no change.

Im really not sure where I should look next... Are these grounded threw the housing? Maybe I should try a dedicated ground wire from the mounting bolt? Try and manually feed 12v to the ignighter?

[vanbcguy]

Entirely possible you have a bunk alternator. Those 1 wire ones should just work without any magic.

Yes the alternator grounds through its housing. It would be pretty difficult to have a bad ground without disabling the starter though so that would not be my first place to look unless you built a bracket out of something non conducting.

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

[745 turbogreasel]

are you sure the  GM unit is truly 1 wire?  not all are. 
do you have battery voltage from the big wire?

[RunninWild]

Yeah I have battery voltage on the main wire. I ended up pulling the positive cable with the engine running and was only getting 10v. Looks like my old alternator *** the bed. Not too sure what's up with the 1 wire one but it's probably the least of my concerns right now. Went for a test drive last night. No power at low rpm then pulls super hard at 3000 or so. Probably timing? Also have a massive oil leak at the valve cover and either my cooling system is clogged or I have a massive airlock. Engine bay was getting pretty toasty and no heat in the cab. I'm just so tired of spending money and working on this thing every weekend and never being able to drive it. Its literally one thing after another and right when I think it's ready there's a bunch of new problems that start up.

[Bravo2043]

Here's a safety point, I'm not sure it's true, but it makes sense. Never remove the battery from the circuit with the alternator spinning. It can blow the alternator.

I was into sailboats a while back. There is a big switch on the batteries. It was just common knowledge, there. I never tested it.

Then I went over to my buddies house to check out his racecar. It was loud, really loud and mean sounding. Anyway when he shut it off he pulled a battery cable. I told him about the boats thought it was a bad idea. Turns out he was having trouble keeping alternators running.

My2cents

[RunninWild]

Yeah I've heard that too. Its not meant to be a good test but it can be useful. Like in my case I was able to tell it was only putting out 10v. Something I would have never been able to find out with the battery in. It basically confirmed that everything is the way it should be but the alternator is toast. I think it's still under warranty though so I'll call the parts store and see what's up. Hopefully they can look it up without a receipt.

[745 turbogreasel]

if you can wire it like this, try it

[RunninWild]

It's a 1 wire alternator. There is only the 1 post on it.