Questionseveral questions, sorry.
should this generator system run with the pos+ cable off
like an alt. sytem? How should a voltmeter be hooked to a
gen. to see if there is out-put? What is the advantage of
switching to an alt. system? How difficult would it be to change (for a dummy) I just swapped the motor but the electrical stuff gives me a headache. thanks
roblane01@hotmail.com
AnswerYes, you should be able to have the engine keep going at fast idle with one battery cable disconnected. If it won't do that, your generator is not putting out enough current to run the engine. Run the engine at fast idle for this test, failing it at slow idle is normal.
To test the generator with a voltmeter, put the ground clip on the battery negative post, and the test lead on the generator output terminal (probably has an "A" next to it for armature). With the engine running at fast idle, you should see at least 14 volts on the armature terminal. If you don't see this much voltage, take the truck to an auto parts store that advertises free electrical testing - don't start throwing money at the problem. It could be the voltage regulator, the generator or a number of other things (slipping belt, bad battery, wiring problem, polarity problem etc.) so if you go on an Easter Egg hunt switching this and that, you'll spend lots of money before you get to the solution.
There is no advantage to switching to an alternator except that an alternator will charge even at slow idle, so if you spend a lot of time idling in traffic with the lights, wipers and heater running, you'll probably not have to race the engine to keep the battery up with an alternator. On the downside is that you have to replace and re-wire the voltage regulator and part of the dash wiring to hook it up.
A generator is really adequate for all but severe winter traffic stop and go driving in bad weather - I don't advise changing to an alternator unless you have the skills and tools to make the changes (and don't ask me- I advise against all such changes).
Dick
