Color Coded Alternator Wires

The small gauge wires, doesn't matter, they're field wires and the field is totally isolated.

Reply to
aarcuda69062
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aarcuda69062 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com:

Ahh, if that is true, why are they color coded?

Reply to
alfred

Because they are different circuits with different functions.

Reply to
aarcuda69062

Old dodge 318 70's vintage. Replacing alternator; stupid me forgot to write down the wire layout. There's two small wires one green and one red each going to two different terminals, but I can't remember which goes to which terminal. Terminals viewing from back of alternator are at

2 oclock and 11 oclock positions. Where does the red go; where does the green go?

Thanks for any help.

Reply to
forgetful

I hear ya! About seven years ago, I replaced the alternator (with a rebuilt Autozone alternator) on my 1978 Dodge van.I had forgotten to take special note of which wire went where.When I finally figured it out, I drew a diagram on a piece of cardboard and I put the diagram in the glove compartment of my van.Anyway, next time I need to replace the alternator, I will put a little piece of masking tape on the wires and mark the tape with a ball point pen and also refer to my homemade diagram.

Thing is though, always use some masking tape on any wires that you aren't absolutely sure about where they go. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Because the OTHER end of where those wires connect does matter. ;-)

The blue one goes to switched 12v power, the green one goes to the controlled pin on the voltage regulator.

Reply to
Steve

Some of them rebuilt alternators (especially from Autozone) the case halves are not lined up correctly.So far though, I have had pretty good luck with Autozone parts. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Some days, it just isn't worth chewing thru the restraints...

Reply to
aarcuda69062

That makes one of you :-/

Reply to
Steve

So, the nice guys in the white padded panel van finally caught up to you? :-p They're still looking for me ;-)

Reply to
Steve

Steve wrote in news:y9-dnfljfcqvgjPbnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@texas.net:

Try to repost when you learn to read maybe? No mention of blue wire, there is red and green, as OP says.

Reply to
forgetful

aarcuda69062 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com:

Your reply does not make any sense. If they go to different circuits, then there is a reason and a proper terminal for each color coded wire. Anyone here know the answer to my original question??

Reply to
forgetful

innews: snipped-for-privacy@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com:

You don't know enough to know the correct answer has already hit you in the ass at least two times. Now how about an apology for replying like a dipshit (referring to previous reply to Steve)?

Here's a parallel... If you had a question about wiring a simple light switch in a one switch/one load house wiring arrangement, there is no functional difference which wire goes where. Sure, one wire is the source hot and the other is the load, but it makes no difference which way you attach them. In this parallel you see the answer (makes no difference) -and- the explanation (one is hot, the other is load). Seems quite a bit like the thread here.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

Comboverfish wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

ok, but if the light in the house has a hot lead connected to it's ground and the fixture is grounded it will short out. It is a bad idea to connect a hot lead to the lead where the ground should be. Also, I seriously doubt that Dodge would go to the trouble of color coding the alternator wires if there was not a specific terminal they should be connected to. Also there is something called polarization of the alternator. I am not certain how this figures in, but the answer that it does not matter simply does not pass the test of common sense. repeat there is NO blue wire, only red and green. Now does anyone in this expert group know the answer?

Reply to
forgetful

Because you do not understand how the alternator field circuit functions.

Not in this case. One wire supplies ignition on 12 volts to the stator. The other wire is toggled to ground via the voltage regulator. Matters not which spade terminal you connect them to. This is without a doubt, the simplest field circuit ever devised, don't make it more complicated.

I gave it. If you're having problems it's because you omitted or made errors in your original post.

Reply to
aarcuda69062

Does the light bulb care whether hot is connected to the center contact versus the threaded shell?

You'd have a point if which terminal were the reason for the color coding of the wire. Were it an issue, ChryCo would have made the terminals so they couldn't be interchanged.

No there isn't.

It doesn't unless you fibbed and this isn't a 70s alternator to begin with.

It does if (as I said) the field circuit is totally isolated.

The answer is; there are three wires that connect a 70s vintage ChryCo alternator. Wanna start over?

Reply to
aarcuda69062

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Reply to
dahpater

innews: snipped-for-privacy@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

My parallel wasn't perfect, but you are going way off tangent with it. Why don't you try hooking one of your mystery wires (might I suggest the B+ wire) to the chassis or engine block and see where it gets you. That's as lame as hooking a black hot wire to neutral or ground. I made a comparison to having a spst switch and two wires made to go to the two terminals on the switch. You can't f*ck that up unless you go outside the implied constraints of the argument. Similarly, you can't f*ck up your "70's era Chryco alternator" field wires by going out of the constraints of what you were told will work. You were also told by several people that one wire is B+ and the other is regulated ground from the remote regulator assly. If you have a voltmeter, test light, RC car motor, or a tongue you should be able to figure out which is which from that info.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

Try to repost when you're sober. 70s Mopar alternator field wires are BLUE and GREEN, at least from the factory. His may be red, but if so its been re-wired. And the point is that at least at the alternator end, it DOES NOT MATTER which one goes on which spade terminal.

Reply to
Steve

Listen carefully. At the ALTERNATOR, it doesn't matter which wire goes where. But the OTHER end of one of the wires needs to go to the top-center pin on the voltage regulator, and the OTHER end of the OTHER wire needs to go to the outboard pin on the voltage regulator. Both wires are part of the engine wiring harness. Would you have Mopar splice wires so that both wires are (pick a color) on the alternator end but coded correctly on the VR end? Are you really that dense?

Reply to
Steve

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