4 posters
Replacing funky wiring
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°1
Replacing funky wiring
So my '64 A100 van has a '93 318 LA motor in it. The previous owner had two positive and two negative cables running from each battery terminal...one set went to either side of the alternator and the other to the regulator/starter and block. Seems redundant to me, but not sure what sort of regulator I should be looking for to get this thing hooked up correctly?
Dan Scully- Number of posts : 254
Location : Apple Valley Ca
Age : 67
Registration date : 2016-07-30
- Post n°2
Replacing funky wiring
Depends if they kept the old alternator or have the newer style on the later engine. Can you get a pic of the back of the alternator? Is the distributor still points or electronic?
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°3
Re: Replacing funky wiring
Dan Scully- Number of posts : 254
Location : Apple Valley Ca
Age : 67
Registration date : 2016-07-30
- Post n°4
Replacing funky wiring
That makes things even more different, that is a GM alternator. It will work but need a pic of the alternator where the regulator wiring plugs in on the alternator , it can be a external regulator, internal or a one wire self energizing one.
donivan65- Governor
- Number of posts : 12218
Location : San Diego, California
Registration date : 2008-05-12
- Post n°5
Re: Replacing funky wiring
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°6
Re: Replacing funky wiring
Thanks guys. I’ll get under there today and snap a few more pics. In a nutshell the internal wiring for the lights, signals, etc. all seems fine, but I want to rerun everything from the battery to the fuse block (replacing that too).
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°7
Re: Replacing funky wiring
donivan65- Governor
- Number of posts : 12218
Location : San Diego, California
Registration date : 2008-05-12
- Post n°8
Re: Replacing funky wiring
That red output terminal should get to the positive battery cable ,,,,,,,and possibly stopping off 1st at the ammeter and starter,,,,so there is no wires on terminals 1 and 2?,,,,,,,is the battery getting charged,,,,,,are you running 2 batteries?
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°9
Re: Replacing funky wiring
One battery. I don't know man, this dude had things hooked up kinda funky, so it's possible the battery wasn't getting charged, but I haven't really been able to drive it much and it hasn't been driven much in general for a while. So not really sure. I think I'm just gonna start from scratch, put in a junction box and new regulator and get rid of this duplicate wiring. Plus it all looks like stereo amplifier cable and all of the cables are red! Grrrrrr!!
donivan65- Governor
- Number of posts : 12218
Location : San Diego, California
Registration date : 2008-05-12
- Post n°10
Re: Replacing funky wiring
No problem,,,,,,,,these vans have been modified many times over the years so you dont know what you will find,,,,so dig in,,,,,,,see what you find,,,,,ask questions,,,,,,,we are here to save these vans lives,,,,,,
Dan Scully- Number of posts : 254
Location : Apple Valley Ca
Age : 67
Registration date : 2016-07-30
- Post n°11
Wiring
arracado wrote:One battery. I don't know man, this dude had things hooked up kinda funky, so it's possible the battery wasn't getting charged, but I haven't really been able to drive it much and it hasn't been driven much in general for a while. So not really sure. I think I'm just gonna start from scratch, put in a junction box and new regulator and get rid of this duplicate wiring. Plus it all looks like stereo amplifier cable and all of the cables are red! Grrrrrr!!
Take a pic of the regulator plug on the alternator. As said in the other post it is probably a internal regulated one. All you will need to do is wire it correctly no need for a new regulator.
donivan65- Governor
- Number of posts : 12218
Location : San Diego, California
Registration date : 2008-05-12
- Post n°12
Re: Replacing funky wiring
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°13
Re: Replacing funky wiring
In a perfect world, the negative from the battery goes to the block, then the positive goes directly to the starter, from starter to junction box, then to alternator and fuse block, correct?
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°14
Re: Replacing funky wiring
That looks like a pretty affordable solution donivan. Probably a good time to do it along with the rest of the wiring.
donivan65- Governor
- Number of posts : 12218
Location : San Diego, California
Registration date : 2008-05-12
- Post n°15
Re: Replacing funky wiring
You might very well have that alternator on there,,,,,,but we need to know if yours is working 1st,,,,,a quick test is see what the battery voltage is,,,,if,,,,,the voltage goes up at least 1/2 volt when the engine starts,,,,that shows the alternator is charging,,,,you still still to find out how much,,,the negative cable bolts to the engine,,,you should have a smaller wire attached to the frame from the cable,,,,,the positive cable goes to the starter solenoid,,,,,then you need a 14 gauge fusible link on the feed wire to protect your wiring, WHEN,,,,not IF,,,,your wiring shorts out,,,,it just a piece of solder that melts before any wiring catches on fire,,,,then the feed wire goes to the Ammeter, and that is a problem,,,,then fusebox,,,,through a couple of connectors that always go bad,,,,,the alternator output just connects into that wire ,,,,,you want at least a 10 gauge wire to get the juice from the starter to the fusebox,,,,I kinda like these types of fuseboxes to hook my STUFF up to,,,,
donivan65- Governor
- Number of posts : 12218
Location : San Diego, California
Registration date : 2008-05-12
- Post n°16
Re: Replacing funky wiring
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°17
Re: Replacing funky wiring
OK so the previous owner confirmed that the Delco alternator that's in there is internally regulated. I guess that helps.
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°18
Re: Replacing funky wiring
OK was finally able to dive a little deeper into the wiring on this thing. Basically it breaks down as such:
+/- cables going directly from battery to alternator
A second + cable going from battery to this box near the starter:
Second - cable going from battery to block
From the mystery box, there are two cables running to the starter:
The thick wire going to the nut on top comes from the large nut on the mystery box, the other wire on the starter nut goes up through the dog house to this box by the fan:
The wire on the bottom of the starter goes to the center connector on the mystery box:
I really just want to simplify what's going on here. All the wires are red. The ground going from the block to the frame is literally frayed, bare wire. Easy enough stuff to fix and rewire, I'm just not sure what all these components are and how to simplify everything.
To summarize:
1. What is the mystery box?
2. What gauge wire should I use for the block to frame ground?
3. How can I eliminate the extra set of cables going to the alternator (it's a Delco)? Is this possible?
Any help is appreciated!
+/- cables going directly from battery to alternator
A second + cable going from battery to this box near the starter:
Second - cable going from battery to block
From the mystery box, there are two cables running to the starter:
The thick wire going to the nut on top comes from the large nut on the mystery box, the other wire on the starter nut goes up through the dog house to this box by the fan:
The wire on the bottom of the starter goes to the center connector on the mystery box:
I really just want to simplify what's going on here. All the wires are red. The ground going from the block to the frame is literally frayed, bare wire. Easy enough stuff to fix and rewire, I'm just not sure what all these components are and how to simplify everything.
To summarize:
1. What is the mystery box?
2. What gauge wire should I use for the block to frame ground?
3. How can I eliminate the extra set of cables going to the alternator (it's a Delco)? Is this possible?
Any help is appreciated!
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°19
Re: Replacing funky wiring
One more thing, I identified the alternator. It's a Delco 7127SW3. This is a one-wire if I'm not mistaken, so not sure why there were two wires running to it from the battery.
https://www.carid.com/quality-built/remanufactured-alternator-mpn-7127sw3.html
EDIT: Tested it and it works.
https://www.carid.com/quality-built/remanufactured-alternator-mpn-7127sw3.html
EDIT: Tested it and it works.
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°20
Re: Replacing funky wiring
OK figured out a little more. The mystery box is the starter relay. So I believe this should work:
1. Positive battery to relay (4 gauge)
2. Negative battery to block (4 gauge)
3. New relay-to-starter cable (4 gauge)
4. Negative block to frame (6 gauge)
5. Positive from relay to one-wire alternator (6 gauge)
The alternator grounds to its mounting points, so no need to run a ground wire off it, but even if I did, it could go to the frame and doesn't need to go back to the battery as it was. Gonna hook it up tomorrow and hopefully take it for a spin!
1. Positive battery to relay (4 gauge)
2. Negative battery to block (4 gauge)
3. New relay-to-starter cable (4 gauge)
4. Negative block to frame (6 gauge)
5. Positive from relay to one-wire alternator (6 gauge)
The alternator grounds to its mounting points, so no need to run a ground wire off it, but even if I did, it could go to the frame and doesn't need to go back to the battery as it was. Gonna hook it up tomorrow and hopefully take it for a spin!
arracado- Number of posts : 47
Location : Medford, OR
Age : 49
Registration date : 2018-08-14
- Post n°21
Re: Replacing funky wiring
Success! Got it all wired and it fired right up tonight with no issues. Now on to the cooling!
vanny- Moderator
- Number of posts : 14775
Location : Ashburnham, MA
Age : 64
Registration date : 2012-09-22
- Post n°22
Re: Replacing funky wiring
Congrats! Way to stick with it!
_________________
“The future will soon be a thing of the past."
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