Alternator replacement? Voltage regulator gone bad?

[spider2081]

How did you make out with your alternator?? Is your charging system working now??

[KevAndAndi]

How did you make out with your alternator?? Is your charging system working now??

I removed it, and it's sitting by my back door. That's as far as I've gotten. I just got an email from the rebuilder, whose shop is down the street from my house. He said he has an alternator in inventory. The price would be the same as for rebuilding mine: $110. I'm kind of leaning toward rebuilding because it's the same cost and one-day turnaround, and I like the idea of returning original equipment to the car.

The problem is that I keep asking the proprietor for a day and time to drop it off, and he keeps saying, call before you come because I'm in and out of the shop all day long. This is in NJ, and I work in NYC. I can't just sit by the phone and keep calling so that I can hustle down to his shop as soon as he returns. I have a commuting schedule and I need to know a precise time, ahead of time. It's an odd way to do business!

In the meantime, with the alternator out of the way, I have removed the oil-vapor separator and the little elbow hose to the crankcase. The separator is soaking in gasoline (the best solvent, my dad always used to say). I have a new elbow, and a silicone hose to run from the separator to the air intake. Hopefully, the flame arrestor is somewhere in the old hose, so I can fish it out and put it in the new one.

[ez2wire]

FWIW my 75 Spiders wiring is such a basket case after replacing the VR and Alternator we couldn't figure which was bad ( still no charge )

So we replaced with the 81 Bosch one wire.. all is great now.

[KevAndAndi]

Alternator has been replaced, and it is now putting out 13.9 volts with the engine running and the radio on, compared to 12.3 volts previously. (I still haven't figured out how to turn off the radio the PO installed.) Had a heck of a time getting the lower bolt in. Could not get it all the way through. It took me a couple of hours to realize the alternator had been reassembled a bit askew, causing the bolt ears to be out of alignment. I straightened them out and finally got it locked down.

Also installed a silicone crankcase breather hose, little elbow hose, and oil-vapor separator gasket. I'm happy with the way the engine bay is shaping up.



Went for a drive, and no more warning light. She's running exceptionally well.

[nelsonj]

engine bay looks very nice. Love the blue down to the hose clamps.

[spider2081]

great to hear the alternator is working properly. Your car looks very nice you should be very proud.

[KevAndAndi]

Thanks, I like those blue ABA clamps.

Many of the car's improvements started probably two POs ago, but strangely there are an awful lot of basic maintenance items that had not been addressed. I have to tackle suspension and steering fixes this winter. Almost all of the rubber bushings are shot after a mere 35 years of service. Many of the fuel hoses are similarly original, which concerns me. I keep a fire extinguisher handy.

[spider2081]

I replaced all the hoses on my 81 Spider shortly after I purchased it in 2003. Fuel, brake and radiator all replaced. I thought it was a prudent maintenance practice.

[alfadude1]

I just replaced my Bosch alternator on my 1983 Spider with the 95 amp unit. Everything went smoothly except it wouldn't start. It cranked just fine but I knew something was wrong when I turned the key and didn't hear the fuel pump start.

I checked everything and found a black wire that wasn't connected near the alternator. The wire comes out of the same green plastic sheath as the green alternator light wire (D+).

Can someone please tell me where the black wire connects?

[spider2081]

I believe the alternators output post should have 2 black wires on it. One goes to the starter solenoids battery terminal. The other goes to Fuse 10. Fuses 10 and 9's input are jumped together and power the "Hot all the time" fused circuits in the car. From the un-fused side of fuse 9 the black wire continues to the ignition switch terminal 30/1.
More than likely the black wire you have needs to be put onto the alternators output post. It should have a ring terminal on it that fits similar tot he other black wire.

[alfadude1]

Thank you for the reply.

I took a cell phone picture before I removed the alternator and it looked like the black wire went to the output post of the alternator as you suggested. Just to make sure I didn't let any smoke out, I attached the wire using a 1 amp fuse and immediately heard the fuel pump come on with the ignition switch in the on position.

I took the car out for a long ride and all is well. I am not sure how much of a difference the new alternator will make but I can now remove and reinstall an alternator in less than fifteen minutes. so I've got that going for me, which is nice...

[spider2081]

WOW I am surprised the 1 amp fuse did not fail, it is a pretty low value for the circuit you have it in. I am pretty sure you intend to hook the wire directly to the alternator with out the fuse now that you know everything seems to work. Your battery must have had a very full charge on it for the fuse to hold. Did your battery warning light go out as it should with the engine running??

[alfadude1]

I just used the fuse for a second, in case the smaller black wire wasn't supposed to be on the output of the alternator. Once I heard the fuel pump start, I disconnected the battery, attached the black wire without the fuse, buttoned everything up and closed the hood.

I was hesitant to connect the black wire to the output of the alternator because usually, black wires get connected to ground.

[spider2081]

I think you explanation and logic are great. Better safe than sorry.

[KevAndAndi]

It cranked just fine but I knew something was wrong when I turned the key and didn't hear the fuel pump start.

You probably already know this, but the fuel pump shouldn't run when you turn the key (unless you start the car and the engine is running). This is, however, a condition that many Spider owners live with. The detrimental aspects include needless running of the fuel pump while you're listening to the radio to a serious fire hazard if you are in an accident and the pump continues to squirt fuel.