Mid 1990's Dodge Alternators

[Bryan138]

Has anyone done the big 3 on a mid 90's Dodge Ram? My alternator on my '96doesn't have they typical wire terminals. It has a plastic connector with both the positive & negative wires running into it and then the connector itself is bolted on to the alternator. Am I missing something or is there no good way to run alternator positive to battery positive with bigger gauge wire without replacing the alternator?

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[Bryan138]

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Try taking off the cap to see what's underneath. It might be a covering like on my 300m

 

[Bryan138]

It's not really a cover as much as it's a connector. All the wires terminate in the the plastic piece and then bolt to two tiny posts on the alternator. The only way I can see to get it open would be to break it.

 

[Bryan138]

Bump

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

You may have to buy the book. like one of those Chiltons or Haynes. It costs 20 bucks, but at least you know how to remove anything.

 

[casper97ta 10+ year member]

Interesting, My 97 ram with the 360 didnt look like that and my current 97 dakota with the 318 doesnt look like that.

Can you see a power wire that goes from the alt to the battery or fuse box?

 

[Bryan138]

Interesting, My 97 ram with the 360 didnt look like that and my current 97 dakota with the 318 doesnt look like that.
Can you see a power wire that goes from the alt to the battery or fuse box?

The negative wire goes straight to the fuse box, but the power wires go back into the main wiring harnes and are pretty hard to follow. Interestingly enough both of the bolts that the connector mounts onto show voltage, but they are only getting about 5 volts each.

Anyone have any ideas? I guess I'm going to pull the alternator to get a better look this weekend. I'm also tempted to break the connector open just to see how the wires terminate.

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

the red circle should be your cable to battery, the 2 underneath the cap in green should be your feild wires, you alt is externally regulated, check it with a test light or multimeter

 

[Bryan138]

Got it. That bolt is showing ~14 volts. Thanks for your help.

 

[Bryan138]

Alright, now I'm confused. I just ran my wire from the hot bolt to my battery positive and when I connected my negative battery post back it about melted the post off. Any ideas?

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

Are you sure you saw voltage between that bolt and ground?

I just had a similar thread going about my '94 Dodge caravan alternator, mine looks a little different, but it has a lot of similarities. On mine, that bolt is just a mount = ground. On mine, the hot bolt is partially concealed behind a plastic boot to protect anything from comming in contact with it. Is there a short wire on the other side of that plastic module we can't see in the pic?

Look at my thread and see if it helps.

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327658

 

[Bryan138]

Ok, now I'm really confused. Aparantly what I did was check the bolt for voltage but used the bolt behind the boot (the one showing hot in your diagram). Now when I check it via any other ground I'm getting nothing. The bolt with the boot around it shows ~14volts with any good ground. The only thing I don't understand is that the wire coming from the boot goes into a wiring harness with only 2 wires. I cant tell which one is which without slicing open all of the wire loom, but one of the wires goes to the negative battery terminal and the other one goes to the negative side of the fuse block. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

I guess when I get some time this week I'll give it a shot and see what happens.

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

Don't slice open the wires. Double and tripple check where you see voltage and what is ground. Your dealing with a lot of amp here, so it's really important not to make a mistake. Have a friend double check your results if possible.

I figured it out, with some help from this board. I'm sure you can too.

Without being there to test it myself, it sounds like the bolt with the protective boot is the one you should attach to the battery, thru a fuse. If you had had a fuse on the previous line you ran it wouldn't have melted down, it would have just popped the fuse. A little extra insurance.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Don't slice open the wires. Double and tripple check where you see voltage and what is ground. Your dealing with a lot of amp here, so it's really important not to make a mistake. Have a friend double check your results if possible.
I figured it out, with some help from this board. I'm sure you can too.

Without being there to test it myself, it sounds like the bolt with the protective boot is the one you should attach to the battery, thru a fuse. If you had had a fuse on the previous line you ran it wouldn't have melted down, it would have just popped the fuse. A little extra insurance.

Yes.

That's what it's like on my stock AND aftermarket alternator for my 2nd gen dakota...

This pic in the other thread is similar...

ahh youre right, I have like 4 Chrysler alts sittin here and on all them that ring goes on the pos stud

there should be another stud on the alt somewhere

nG