Mike B Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 Hi Everyone, This alternator problem comes from my girlfriends Astra 1.7 TD.. I have 4 wires; -Earth -Main power -small anciliary wire measuring 3.25v when ignition is on -small anciliary wire measuring 12v when ignition is on As I understand there should only be 3 wires needed for the alternator; power return, earth and an exciter wire to start the alternators power generation field. can anyone tell me which is the correct voltage to use as the exciter and what the other wire is for and where it should go! thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
absz Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 if i recall correctly then you should have a 4 pin plug on the back of the alternator and the small wires go to a charge relay which is located in the kick panel of the drivers footwell. don't know what voltage you should be getting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B Posted November 22, 2008 Author Share Posted November 22, 2008 hey bud, thanks... Yeah, 4 pin plug I have seen on other alternators, but the one spec'd for this car is as above, I have a choice of 12v for the exciter wire, or 3.25v... which one should it be...? the only other thing I can do with the other lead is either block off the 3.5v, and use 12v as exciter, or use the 3.5v as the exciter and block offthe 12 or attach the 12 to positive... if there are no suggestions I will start experimenting with either ofthe the above and a volt meter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B Posted November 23, 2008 Author Share Posted November 23, 2008 read up on alternators late last night.. the 3.5v is variable so the car can control whet sort of power the alternator puts out. problem solved, car running fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignum Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 They`re split load charging on astra`s and cavaliers, the relay normally blows caused by a faulty alternator or diodes inside them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B Posted November 24, 2008 Author Share Posted November 24, 2008 They`re split load charging on astra`s and cavaliers, the relay normally blows caused by a faulty alternator or diodes inside them? Hey Si... Split load charging?? can you explain? as I understand, one wire has a variable power so it can govern the alternator's output. when I rev the car now I do get an increased output, but at tickover I would like to see a bit higher voltage out of the alternator tbh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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