If you mean remove the spade connector from the plastic connector, then the
spade usually has a flap angled backwards which latches behind a lip in the
plastic socket to retain the spade in the socket when you pull it off the
alternator. It is a matter of locating that flap (on the flat back of the
spade), sliding in a thin flat strip of metal to depress it, then you should
be able to withdraw it forwards i.e. pulling the wire through the connector.
Don't forget to feed the wire through the connector *before* soldering the
wire to it! Crimping and soldering is good in my book as long as you use a
hot iron for a minimum time. Using a low powered iron for a long time will
eventually cause the solder to melt but can also damage the insulation and
cause the solder to run back into the wire, causing it to fracture inside
the insulation. When soldering wires into a spade connector I slip an inch
or two of heat shrink onto the insulation, and another length to cover that
and where the spade crimps over the insulation, to move any bending stresses
from where the wire joins the connector back down to where the strands are
still free inside the insulation.
But whilst the charge light may glow dimly if the thick brown output wire
goes open circuit, it shouldn't glow brightly. Glowing brightly indicates
some other problem. Many years, possibly all the way from 69 to 76, had a
thin brown sense wire in the alternator plug as well as the thick brown
output wire. If this goes open circuit then that could cause the warning
light to glow brightly as it will disable the voltage regulator. Don't
forget bad connections could be at the solenoid (where both thick and thin
browns from the alternator terminate) as well as the alternator plug, and a
problem inside the alternator, such as dirty slip rings, worn brushes, or
other problems could cause the light to flash. You really need to determine
where the break is occurring, with a voltmeter, and make sure you fix that,
as well as any dodgy connections.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
>I have intermittent bright flashing of the "charge" light on the dash,
which I believe is due to a bad connection at the biggest (brown) wire going
into the alternator connector. There are broken strands and some
"looseness", although the wire is not falling out. There are no (other)
symptoms other than the occasional flash; and a shop with somewhat
questionable quality re-terminated the wires on the connector a year or two
ago, when the connection failed and stranded me on the side of the road.
>
> I think I'd like to remove the contact from the connector and re-install
the wire, crimping and soldering to improve the connection.
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