Clutch Swap, Car not charging?

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
hey guys, all ive done recently is swap the clutch on my car (yanked the motor to do it and put in new front and rear mains). got the car all back together and now i cant get the car to charge the battery for some reason. before i swapped clutches it would charge just fine, albeit a little weak (12.6-12.8 volts, but it would hold that). when i brought up the stinger software it showed only 10.8 volts at idle, i installed a new volt gauge and it confirmed this. i at first thought that the alternator was giving out, but after swapping on a local guys working alternator it still would not charge at all. while driving last night it got so bad as to almost not run my fuel pumps, needless to say i got home as fast as i could. this morning i checked fuses in the fuse box and the fusible link and nothing was blown. im am at a loss here guys, any help would be appreciated
 

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
i was pretty sure i did ian, although, can u point me in the direction of a writeup or anything showing the ground locations that would have to do with this so i can double check them?
 

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
im gonna swap out the body harness on the front end tomorrow (needed to anyways) so ill try to get to all the grounds i can find
 

ForcedTorque

Join the 92 Owners Group
Jul 11, 2005
6,099
2
38
58
Satsuma, Alabama, United States
GROUNDS

Back of head to body on exhaust side

Wiring harness under intake

Lower block to body driver's side

Tranny to body at the mount

Coil Pack

Battery Negative to Block

Not sure if that's all of them or not. You can also upgrade the ground in your igniter as I saw a write up on, but I doubt that has an effect on charging.
 

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
new harness put in today, motor going back together soon

dat, jon brought up a good point today

it didnt start doing anything like this till i got it running with an underdrive crank pulley on it. i traded a friend of mine (xoftimex) for a stock one so he could get running since he had to drive to illinois. intent was to run the underdrive till a stock one could be sourced (picking it up tomorrow). friend brought up the point that the pulley might not be spinning the alternator fast enough, and that coupled with a weak alternator in the first place is not a good combo for power generation
 

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
ok

as of today, i got the car back together with a completely new front end harness, changed the crank pulley back to the stock pulley. checked all the grounds, even added an extra one. took the car out and its actually charging now, but its in the mid 11 volt range, so i guess my alternator did take a shit. and to top the day off, i get home and go to pop the hood......f@#king hood cable broke.

anyone else have any suggestions of anything to check? i think i might as well go get a new battery as well, as this ones been fully drained a few times now.
 

Datsrboi

Loud pipes Save Lives
Jul 31, 2007
797
0
0
Haltom Texas
www.cardomain.com
Bigzavs;1150562 said:
ok

as of today, i got the car back together with a completely new front end harness, changed the crank pulley back to the stock pulley. checked all the grounds, even added an extra one. took the car out and its actually charging now, but its in the mid 11 volt range, so i guess my alternator did take a shit. and to top the day off, i get home and go to pop the hood......f@#king hood cable broke.

anyone else have any suggestions of anything to check? i think i might as well go get a new battery as well, as this ones been fully drained a few times now.

A fully dead battery can never be charge correctly again. Thats what happen to me. I was running low 12s on my old battery that had been drained 4 times dead all the way. Swap in a new battery and it stayed in the 14s.
 

str8_6

master yuepeng
Mar 14, 2007
241
0
0
wa
if you have an optima...it can be drained repeatedly and still do good..i know from experience.

take the positive RIGHT OFF of the alternator and make sure its a clean contact...double check that wire going there also.
 

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
well guys ill lay it out easy like

1. Got the new clutch in, took the car out, drove around for a little, went to boost, notice that my afr's are flying high, i get home let it sit, come back out and the battery is dead as a nail.

2. Charge it up, take it back out at night, lights start dimming, fuel pumps are barely working, high ass AFR's again. bring it home, let it sit, dead battery again.

3. Thinking its a wiring issue, i swap out all of the front end harness for a better condition one. Still wont charge afterwards.

4. We deduce that the Unorthodox Crank Pulley isnt spinning the alternator w/ a stock pulley fast enough to charge. Got a stock pulley from Mike, took it out, charges but just barely, 11.0-11.2 volts on my guage and stinger software.

5. Took the battery (which had been run down a few times) back and exchanged it for a brand spankin new one. Also checked and added one ground in the engine bay, all grounds are attached and tight. Start it up today on my Alternator and Dats alternator, still showing only 10.9-11.2 volts on the stinger and 11.6-11.8 on my volt guage. Let the car run for 20 mins, battery doesnt die, car runs normal, i shut it down, go to crank up expecting dead battery again, starts up immediately, around 2 rotations.

6. I know im not getting 12+volts because my boost afrs are all 13+ when before the clutch swap i was at 11.2 on the same tune. no changes on it. which sounds like my pumps arent getting enough power to run 100%

Im going to try a brand new alt from zach and see if that solves it, as well as using jons multi-meter to test voltage at the battery while its running to see if the stinger and volt guage are off.

any suggestions or help would be seriously appreciated, im ready to drive it and after yesterdays 3rd gear pull (for about 2 secs) the car is meaner than all hell, and i really want to drive it.
 

Datsrboi

Loud pipes Save Lives
Jul 31, 2007
797
0
0
Haltom Texas
www.cardomain.com
Not the best "safe" method but its been proven to help time after time and as long you do not do it for a long time.

First would be pull the positive wire on the battery to see if the cars running off the battery or the alternator. Most likely from what you have been telling me it seems like its running off the battery. But its good to do it to see what it does.

Then Since you have changed all those already so far and you know what voltage its sitting at now, go to the alternator and unbolt that wire thats being hold down by the 10mm socket. Start the car and see if it shows the same voltage. If it does then your charging system is surely mess up.

Then I would check that wire you unbolted and see if the solder point might of snap off since when I know people do 1JZ swap that they have to extend that line. But since you have to remove the motor once that you might of yanked on it.

If that is still not the case replace/Recheck the alternator fuse. It might not like its not blown but it could be corroded. Mine was blown on the bottom side rather the top part that you can see.

Last step is the old school idea is hand tracing that + wire from the alternator to the fuse box, then from the fuse box onward... Bit of a pain but if you supply me cold drinking water I can help haha.. Just because you helped me out a few times.

If that still does not work then I might have to come over and help you haha,.
 

YotaRob

U.S.Navy
Jun 18, 2008
177
0
0
Great Lakes
I know mine is charging @ 13.8V with all loads off if you wanna check it with that. Car just sits in the garage anyways. Try using an ohm meter on your fuses. I know they can look good and even send voltage across them but a crack can keep the load from going across.
 

Bigzavs

86.5 1JZ Single Turbo
Apr 21, 2005
2,267
0
0
38
Arlington, TX
OK progress as of the last 20 mins

got a volt meter

car off - battery reads 12.55 volts

car idling - battery reads 12.2 volts

car idling - Output at the alternator stud 12.02 volts

i pulled the power cable off of the battery and the car died immediately

so im guessing its in the wiring somewhere
 

WeDgE

Buh-bye 7M...
Jan 2, 2006
495
0
0
Alberta
I've read the whole thread, but don't think I saw anything about taking the alternator off and taking it into a shop to test...??

If you're only reading 12V at the + stud on the alternator while the car is running, the alternator is DEAD.
 

armyastro

full body shave t04 mk3
Sep 16, 2005
222
0
0
44
radcliff ky
there is a single wire from the alt to the fuse box/battery, take it off and run a continuity check and change it to a bigger gauge one. i had the same problem and that wasthe problem. with mine being a 88 model the wiring was corroded and had alot of unneeded resistance. just cut the both sides and crimp a new one in.
 

Datsrboi

Loud pipes Save Lives
Jul 31, 2007
797
0
0
Haltom Texas
www.cardomain.com
WeDgE;1151739 said:
I've read the whole thread, but don't think I saw anything about taking the alternator off and taking it into a shop to test...??

If you're only reading 12V at the + stud on the alternator while the car is running, the alternator is DEAD.


His alternator was tested and passed.

My alternator I lend him is working because I drove on it for the past month with 13.5-14.2 constant charge.