Eric,
A few comments below.
> Uh oh... guess I'd better toss out that Sears "Made in China" meter I
> have... :) My brother bought a Fluke for his electrical woes on his '68
> 1600... WOW! I know what I'm going to ask for Christmas now!
> Question though.. would that cheapo cause readings to be THAT far off??
I still have one of those cheap meters around here. Problem was I would
find it was reading something like 7V across a good battery. What the
heck??? I twisted the dial back and forth a few times, and poof...
magically was back to reading the correct voltage. The contacts were
poor quality, and would build up a resistive oxide on them, causing the
erroneous readings. Some days the meter worked OK, other days... just
one of those things to drive you crazy.
>Hummmm??? Unhook primary wire, and seeing 2.5-4V from the alternator??
>Why doesn't it charge with the battery on?
Is this after you shut the engine off, and disconnect the battery
wire, and measure the voltage? With a high impedance meter, you
could be measuring the effective "capacitive voltage" on the alternator.
Adding a simple lamp from the "+" post to the ground connection, and
check the voltage again.
Is the alternator working?
Quick test:
Measure the voltage under the following conditions:
Engine off.
Engine on.
Engine on, lights and fan on.
You should see around 12.5 Volts with the engine off.
About 14.5 volts when first started and running.
About 13.5 volts with all the loads turned on.
(The voltages are to just give you an idea of the typical
readings, but will vary with ambient temperature).
Does the ammeter show a discharge from the battery when the
lights are turned on, engine off? When the engine is running,
does it show the battery charging.
Cheers,
Tom Walter
Austin, TX
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