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#89391 09/29/2004 9:43 PM | Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 36 New Guy | | New Guy Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 36 | Not sure yet if I have an alternator or a generator on my 1959 Apache. After starting the truck many times since I bought it, the battery finally didn't have enough to turn the engine over. The gauge did show a slight discharge. I checked the two leads from the alt/gen while running for voltage and found none. Is this a valid test and what should the voltage have been? Time for a new/rebuilt alt/gen? Thanx for any help.
1959 Chevy Apache Stepside 4x4
2009 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LB Crew Cab
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#89392 09/30/2004 1:29 AM | Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,749 Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) | | Kettle Custodian (pot stirrer) Joined: Feb 2004 Posts: 29,749 | First of all, you need to figure out what you've got. A generator is about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, and about a foot long. Delco generators have a stepped-down section partway back from the pulley. Alternators are much bigger in diameter, but shorter. Check out my article in Tech Tips for pictures of an alternator and a generator.
If you have a generator, which I suspect is the case, you need to polarize it first. Take a wire connected to battery voltage, like at the battery positive post, or the top terminal of the starter, and connect it to the "Armature" terminal of the generator for a short time. (Less than one second). It should strike a pretty substantial arc. Disconnect the wires from the generator, and run the engine at a fast idle. There should be 2 to 3 volts present at the Armature terminal with nothing attached. Reconnect the wiring, and check the terminal voltage at the battery. If the charging system is working, it should be from 13 volts to 14.5 or so. Under 12 vols, the generator isn't working, or you've got a bad regulator. If you've gotr "residual" voltage at the armature terminal, ground the "field" terminal at the generator while the engine is running, and the voltage should jump to 13 or more, possibly 15 against a fully-charged battery.
Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
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There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
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#89393 10/02/2004 4:37 AM | Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 12 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 12 | I have the same problem on my '58. I thought I had a short to ground somewhere(everytime I turned on the headlights there was a discharge on the amp gauge) and couldn't find one so I rewired the entire truck and replaced every electrical part on the truck except the ignition switch.
This was OK cause the wiring was pretty bad
BUT the problem didn't go away. Hmmm, maybe it's the generator. Just ran the test described in the shop manual and when I was suppose to get an amp reading while running the truck at medium speed, I got nothing. I'm going to try what Hot Rod Lincoln suggested tomorrow and I'll report back.
"What ARE you doing in the garage all the time"
58 Chevy Apache 3100 Stepside
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