Alternator/Headlight Upgrade

[soybean]

Nothing would think. The red indicator is supposed to go out and stay out when the alternator is charging and the internal regulator is working. If the light does not go out,or comes on as you drive, it's not charging. My son found this out when the charge light stayed on, due to the wire breaking at the pigtail plug in. Don't ask me the rest of the conversation when I asked him if the light was on when he was driving.
Jarrell

[BobCGT]

The red lamp on the ammeter is lit even before I key up the ignition,that is my concern
Bob

[soybean]

Originally Posted by BobCGT The red lamp on the ammeter is lit even before I key up the ignition,that is my concern Bob

It stays on all the time? , not just when you turn the key on? I'm a little confused now as it seems you have it wired correctly.
Jarrell

[BobCGT]

Correct.The red lamp is powered all the time,except when the engine starts then it goes out as its supposed to.
Bob

[soybean]

Do you have it wired as in this post? http://www.opelgt.com/forums/6447-post5.html If so, then I am totally lost as to what to say. Jarrell

[BobCGT]

I followed that exact post to do the wiring,thats my confusion.
Bob

[guyopel]

This is a internal short in your alt. -- if you have the 63amp. style alt. or the two terminal spade connector .
If you know how to take the alt. apart you may want to test the triode--unless your alt. is under a warr.HTH

[soybean]

The only thing I can think of is a wire is crossed somewhere. I'm at a total loss Bob. I did the same thing and had no problems. It sounds like you are getting power from the battery bleeding through and keeping the light on, then when it cranks and charges, goes off. Electrial wiring on the Gt is definately not my speciality. Hopefully others with more experience will jump in here. Wish I could have been of more help. Jarrell

What Guyopel said is most likely the problem. Pull it and have it tested.

[lewdawg]

I converted my alternator over to the 105CS alternator as described in the thread and it works better than I would have expected. I used the chrome aftermarket lower breacket, bought a spacer from home depot, and modified the bracket for pulley alignment. Along with the weber upgrade, autostart ignition switch protection relay, and electronic ignition this is one of those upgrades that is definitely worth the time and effort!!!

[Manta Rallier]

Originally Posted by BobCGT Correct.The red lamp is powered all the time,except when the engine starts then it goes out as its supposed to. Bob

Bob, it sounds like part of the car's circuits that should be powered throuhg your ignition switch is bypassed somewhere directly to the battery. The power to the red 'idiot' light comes through the switched ignition power to the dash and other internal accessories (like the oil pressre gage sensor, blinkers, etc.) If the light stays on when the igntion key is off, then this circuit is not being switched off by the ignition switch. Do other things run and operate with the key out that should be off?

The idiot light should go off when the alternator is producing power internally so that part is right.

Regards,
Mark B.

[maglinjosvinn]

bob - you saw my alternator in my gt when you came and got the engine - that alt doesn't connect to the idiot lite (though it will i swear sometime!). i had to bypass the idiot lite completely and put a relay system in that basically tells the alternator to just charge all the damn time. but it doesn't... really. the amp guage shows when i've been running my radio with the car off and all, and i can watch it go down as the battery takes a charge and all. *shrugs* i can draw it up for you the way i did it i suppose.

[BobCGT]

Thanks for the help and all the interest in my alternator problems. Turns out, I had everything hooked up correctly
but the alternator had a bad diode.
So I replaced alternator and now idiot light functions properly.Bob

guyopel had the correct answer!

[jerseydave]

I am almost finished with the install of the new not rebuilt 105 amp Autozone DLG1345-6-7 alternator that guyopel referred in post #42. I am a novice mechanic and I would have to put the degree of difficult being a 3 out of 10. Hardest part was switching pulleys and making one screw hole bigger!

I'll let you know how it works in a couple of weeks after I finish rewiring the car. I couldn't resist putting in the alternator now rather than later. Why wire the alternator twice. Attached is picture of the alternator that slipped right in to place with ease.

[BQS4]

jerseydave;
What belt did you use?

[jerseydave]

I used the Dayco fan belt # 15355 that guyopel had listed. Of course I bought a spare!

[BQS4]

OK, cool, just wanted to verify, as I'm about to do this conversion to 3 of my cars.....

[jerseydave]

Originally Posted by soybean I asked Guyopel about the alternator and here is his reply. Quote: The alt. # DLG 1345-6-7 from Autozone this is for a 91-95 Chevy pickup ( C/K bodystyle ) 350 cu.in. V/8 with A/C . You will need to use the Opel pulley ,the drive belt # is for a Dayco # 15355, the lower alt. bracket is for a Chevy. Pepboys # 42273, it is chrome and come with bolts . You will need to change to shorter bolts to mount the bracket to the Opel block . You will need to grind one slot in the bracket ( see photos ) and use spacers to move the alt. all the way to the frontof the Chevy bracket .You will use the Opel top bracket for adjustments . Hope this helps: End Quote I looked at one at Advance Auto briefly the other day, and the adjusting bolt hole is clocked at the 2 oclock position and the bottom at 5 oclock. The present pulley is a serpentine. It was a little expensive, but definitely smaller. HTH, Jarrell

Maybe this will save going back a page

[jmbinjax]

I did this upgrade about 8 months ago. It's been working great since.

[guyopel]

Dave, I 'm glad to see you got the alt. on . Good Luck on the rest of the project .
John

[Bed7526]

Thanks for this post. It took me a while to do things, mostly just finding the time, but it is done.

Converted to a GM type alternator, replace rusted gas tank with another that I eched and recoated from eBay.

Now I must clean up a few things and then start on a new floor on both sides. Passenger is 90% gone and driver is 50% gone.

Still need to double check the wires, I need to rev it to turn on the alternator, saw another post with this issue will follow that thread.

BTW I installed the alternator by taking out the radiator and passing it through the front. Did not want to mess with the rotor.

Thanks again.

Greg
Houston
'69 Kadette
'72 GT

[markandson]

I have read this thread and others on the same subject and can't seem to confirm which one wire alternator has different clocking on the mounting holes so that you don't need a modified adjustment bracket. I know I read it somewhere a long time ago, but can't seem to find it now. Anyone out there remember?

[BQS4]

Markand son;
Go to post #92 of this thread and that's all the info you need for a 105 amp alt conversion.

[guyopel]

This photo may help with the size diff. and like Gene said the post above in ref. with part numbers . You do not need the ground wire that is shown in the photo ( Alt. grounds thru the bracket ) and you will need shorter bolts to the eng. block for the lower Chevy bracket
HTH
John

[Lindsay]

www.partsasmerica.com has pictures of CS-130, 105 Amp alternator, once vehicle info is entered.

http://www.opelgt.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=7036
Picture shows size difference:

Can smaller case CS-130, 105 Amp be removed without removing distributor or radiator on GT? With Opel alternator, need to remove distributor or radiator.

[rowdygt]

I commenced with the "CS" (105 amp) upgrade today and discovered that the wiring that comes from the main harness to the alternator (Red, blue/white) had been "upgraded" by the infamous PO's....as in no fusible links...my question is will inline fuses work and if so what amperage would be correct? or would it be best to install fusible links on both (red-alternator and blue white amp guage light ?