Battery Dying After Engine Swap

[84GP455]

That's the culprit! Ok so now you need to bolt it up to the back of one of your cylinder heads, find a bolt that will fit in one of the holes on the back of the cylinder head and you will be good to go! Open your car door so the interior light is on and then attach the wire and watch your lights get brighter.

 

[JBreu]

X2, sometimes the smallest things can be a BIG pain in the a$$, glad you figured it out though 🙂

That's the culprit! Ok so now you need to bolt it up to the back of one of your cylinder heads, find a bolt that will fit in one of the holes on the back of the cylinder head and you will be good to go! Open your car door so the interior light is on and then attach the wire and watch your lights get brighter.

 

[Doober]

The ground strap shouldn't have any effect on the alternator, it has nothing to do with the charging circuit where the alternator and battery are concerned. Yes, it will make quite a difference for electrical components grounded to the body, but the alternator grounds through the engine block to the battery. Like 79loserbu said, check your voltage with the car running. If it doesn't read around 14v something is wrong. If it's not charging it will read anywhere from 8-12v. Yes, it will run on voltage that low, however poorly. If it's not charging, make sure you have voltage at the brown wire of the alternator connector with the key on. As you can see on the diagram, the brown wire is run through the 'charge' light, and if it has gauges there is also a ~10 ohm resistor. These are required to keep the regulator from burning up I believe. If there is no voltage, something is amiss in that circuit, I'd double check the charge light, and make sure there is a good connection at the light socket.

 

[84GP455]

The ground strap shouldn't have any effect on the alternator, it has nothing to do with the charging circuit where the alternator and battery are concerned. Yes, it will make quite a difference for electrical components grounded to the body, but the alternator grounds through the engine block to the battery. Like 79loserbu said, check your voltage with the car running. If it doesn't read around 14v something is wrong. If it's not charging it will read anywhere from 8-12v. Yes, it will run on voltage that low, however poorly. If it's not charging, make sure you have voltage at the brown wire of the alternator connector with the key on. As you can see on the diagram, the brown wire is run through the 'charge' light, and if it has gauges there is also a ~10 ohm resistor. These are required to keep the regulator from burning up I believe. If there is no voltage, something is amiss in that circuit, I'd double check the charge light, and make sure there is a good connection at the light socket.

I tend to disagree with you and i'm sure other people on here will as well. I've had the same problem and as soon as i connected the ground strap to the chassis the problem went away, so i don't know where you got your info but if the alternator is grounded to the motor but the motor is not grounded to the chassis then you are going to have a weak charging system period! Just because the battery is grounded it does not mean that the engine itself is grounded which it definitely needs to be! Regardless of the cause of the problem, he definitely should hook up the engine ground strap or do you think he shouldn't>???

 

[1984CuttySupreme]

I pointed the unattached ground strap out to my mechanic and he said that I have enough grounds and it wasn't important. lol you think he knows what he's talking about?

 

[Doober]

The ground strap shouldn't have any effect on the alternator, it has nothing to do with the charging circuit where the alternator and battery are concerned. Yes, it will make quite a difference for electrical components grounded to the body, but the alternator grounds through the engine block to the battery. Like 79loserbu said, check your voltage with the car running. If it doesn't read around 14v something is wrong. If it's not charging it will read anywhere from 8-12v. Yes, it will run on voltage that low, however poorly. If it's not charging, make sure you have voltage at the brown wire of the alternator connector with the key on. As you can see on the diagram, the brown wire is run through the 'charge' light, and if it has gauges there is also a ~10 ohm resistor. These are required to keep the regulator from burning up I believe. If there is no voltage, something is amiss in that circuit, I'd double check the charge light, and make sure there is a good connection at the light socket.

I tend to disagree with you and i'm sure other people on here will as well. I've had the same problem and as soon as i connected the ground strap to the chassis the problem went away, so i don't know where you got your info but if the alternator is grounded to the motor but the motor is not grounded to the chassis then you are going to have a weak charging system period! Just because the battery is grounded it does not mean that the engine itself is grounded which it definitely needs to be! Regardless of the cause of the problem, he definitely should hook up the engine ground strap or do you think he shouldn't>???

The charging system has no relation to body grounds. How do you think an engine runs on a stand by itself? It's not in a car with a body to ground to, which is the complete opposite thinking where electricity flow is concerned in this case. Where do you think that body ground that's connected to the motor goes? THROUGH the block to the BATTERY. The only reason the body grounds are there are so anything that is grounded to the body is so electricity has a path back to the battery (through the block if need be, as was the case with your interior lights)... same with the frame. The only connection even remotely related to the charging system that goes into the passenger cabin is the ignition switch, which provides voltage to the cluster, which provides voltage to the 'charge' light, which then provides voltage to the regulator to turn the alternator on.

I pointed the unattached ground strap out to my mechanic and he said that I have enough grounds and it wasn't important. lol you think he knows what he's talking about?

It depends on if you do already have a ground connected to the body, and another to the frame. It can't hurt by any means, if anything it will help with any grounds you have to the body in the car (stereo, gauges, lights, etc.).

 

[84GP455]

I pointed the unattached ground strap out to my mechanic and he said that I have enough grounds and it wasn't important. lol you think he knows what he's talking about?

Sorry no i don't think he knows what he's talking about! Why is every car that was ever made come with a engine ground strap from the factory then? Go ahead leave it disconnected see if i care, just trying to help with your problem but apparently you have other problems as well.

 

[1984CuttySupreme]

I pointed the unattached ground strap out to my mechanic and he said that I have enough grounds and it wasn't important. lol you think he knows what he's talking about?

Sorry no i don't think he knows what he's talking about! Why is every car ever that is made come with a engine ground strap from the factory then? Go ahead leave it disconnected see if i care, just trying to help with your problem but apparently you have other problems as well.

No I appreciate the help. If my mechanic was good I wouldn't have to ask for advice online. I took my car there in January to get a rebuilt engine installed and just got it back last week. And it still has all these problems. I'm hoping to find another shop locally that knows what they're doing but don't know where to go. My AC is still a mess as well. It worked for about 10 minutes and now won't turn on at all. And it still runs rough, the idle is shaky... they said I need a different adapter plate for my carb. i could probably do it myself but i wouldn't know how to retune the carb.

 

[84GP455]

Check this web page out and read an answer from a professional mechanic
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/223 ... -do-i-look

 

[84GP455]

Here's another one,,,read under alternators!
http://counterman.com/Article/37070/ign ... turns.aspx