SI to CS conversion issue...

[SuperCutlassGT406]

Recently had my alternator and battery crap out on me (voltage regulator went and boiled the battery) so decided to upgrade to a CS144. I bought the plug WITH the resistor in it as I was not sure which to get as I have a cutlass with the rally gauges but it also has the CHARGE light so I thought to be safe get that one. Everything went in fine and tightens up well.
When the car is off.
Multimeter test on battery is 12.3V
Car running test at back of alternator 14.7V
Test battery while car is running the multimeter is all over the place almost too fast to read. Car off test battery again 12.6V
So I believe it may be charging but why would it do this? All new grounds and or cleaned ground locations as well as power leads. Battery and alt are also both new.

 

[Longroof79]

Just curious...does your alternator charge light go out? I'm wondering if there's a conflict between the indicator light and the resistor. You could try bypassing the resistor and see what happens.

You're apparently getting the necessary 14.5 volts coming out of your alternator....it's got to be a bad connection not allowing the battery to charge properly. How's your positive lead coming from the back of the alternator to the battery? Are you using a heavy enough gauge cable? Everything grounded properly?

These are just a few things that come to mind.

 

[kalidromos13]

I agree with Jack, try removing the resistor to see if that helps. What do you mean by charge light? Does it have a Volt Gauge in the pod or an idiot light?

 

[Longroof79]

Dave,
I'm thinking it has a (charge) indicator light in the gauge...and if he has the rally gauges, he probably has a volt gauge as well.

 

[kalidromos13]

Hmmm i dont think ive seen a charge light before...I'll have to take a look at my Olds rally gauge pod when i get home. On my MC it just has a gauge and no indication for battery charge. Thanks Jack!

 

[Longroof79]

David,
I'm not sure if all cars had them. I don't have one in my GP dash, that's why I opted for the adapter with the built-in resistor.

 

[Bar50]

I wired in a simple led light in-line same one that goes to the dash light...
The alternator "sees" the drop and kicks on.

 

[SuperCutlassGT406]

My next step was to try to bypass the resistor to see. I have a brand new 10g wire from alt to battery. Should it be bigger? All connections checked and are tight. In the rally pack there lights to the right of the actual gauges. The charge light comes on when key is forward and goes off when engine is running. I'm not sure if the gauge actually works or not but it sits at 13v while idling.

 

[SuperCutlassGT406]

I had a friend suggest that it maybe the battery even though it's new that it may not like the charge. Is this a possibility?

 

[SuperCutlassGT406]

Negative battery cable goes directly to the frame then to the engine and then another lead that goes engine to body.