94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 HELP! Please, I have no power at all to my 94 Cutlass after getting my alternator rebuilt! I just finished replacing the alternator on my 3.4L Cutty; put it all back together as I thought I found it...connected negative back up to the battery...red power wire on the back of the alternator connected...wire assembly that slides up in the back of the alternator connected but not sure if there's a right or wrong way to connect it but it slide up in place...connected i guess that speed sensor thing i think on the tranny just behind the alternator...tightened all bolts...tie rod end...subframe...3 alternator bolts...yada, yada, yada, everything is back. The battery read around 35%; charged it to 100% took it off the charger...put the key in...tried to turn the ignition and no lights at all on the dash! Of course no attempt at turn over either. So, please...what am I missing here that I should check??? Tightened the battery connections...didn't have time to follow the cables but I'm assuming they are all were they should've been since they really haven't been touched. Pretty much went by Slick's instructions...thanks in advance for any help. You guys are great!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze93 Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Check battery connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks battery connections were both tight and the charger read 100% charged when I took it off. I'm planning on today following the cables to where ever they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 I'm just wondering if anyone knows if the electrical plug in connection on the back of the alternator which looks like a rectangle could possibly be reversed and would that cause this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMan Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Do you have a test light or a meter? If so see if you have a hot wire going to the back of the alternator. You said there were no lights on the dash...is there an indication of power anywhere else on the car such as glove box light, overhead light, anything? How long has it been since you've seen power in the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks I know I had power before i undertook the alternator repair - everything worked fine it just was not keeping the battery charged and according to the alternator shop the alternator had a bad recifier or something that sounded like that. I guess the battery could be bad but it is like a month old. There is the red hot wire I connected to the bolt on the back of the alternator; I know this was tight when I finished. I believe this is what feeds the battery the generated power. I didn't notice any power anywhere else as I left the top down and just reached in to try to start and there were no lights at all on the dash and nothing when I tried to turn it over. I have a meter but I'm not real good at it but may have to just try to figure it out to track everything down. Â Do you have a test light or a meter? If so see if you have a hot wire going to the back of the alternator. You said there were no lights on the dash...is there an indication of power anywhere else on the car such as glove box light, overhead light, anything? How long has it been since you've seen power in the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMan Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 There are two really quick checks you can do to eliminate your battery or potential non-grounding issue. First, take your meter and put one lead on the the positive terminal of the battery, then put the other lead on the negative terminal of the battery. You should get a reading somewhere between 10-12 volts. If the battery has a charge, take the lead off of the negative terminal and put it to a good ground somewhere on the car while leaving the other lead on the positive terminal. Do you get the same reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze93 Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 I had an issue similar to this and it was due to the battery connections. I replaced the battery terminals and all was fine. If you are not getting power out of the battery it won't matter. Open a door and see if the dome light comes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks MemphisMan it reads 12.8 volts in both so no variance and when I open the door there are no lights on; turn headlights on and nothing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 nothing comes on at all; I will check that - thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 unhook both the battery cables. use a multimeter to see how many ohms (resistance) you get between the each of the cables. I would guess you grounded out the red hot wire on the back of the alternator................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Do you have battery power at the starter? At the aux terminal? Sure the power wire on the alt is tight and not interfering with anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks Ken, How could I have grounded this out? By the way i connected it to the nut with part of the copper touching the alternator? I just looked at a pic I took of the back of it before I installed it and it looks like to me it has a plastic housing around that nut that is part of the alternator cooling; could it touching that plastic housing ground it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 I'm in the process of checking this out to; thanks Chris! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks Ken, How could I have grounded this out? By the way i connected it to the nut with part of the copper touching the alternator? I just looked at a pic I took of the back of it before I installed it and it looks like to me it has a plastic housing around that nut that is part of the alternator cooling; could it touching that plastic housing ground it?[ATTACH=CONFIG]2275[/ATTACH] Â No, I'm thinking the wire got pinched or pierced between the alternator and a bracket or something... the same trick it easy to do on a 3.1mpfi if you have the wire at a wrong angle, the wire would touch and get intruded to become grounded to a square corner on the lower intake..... God knows I've done that 2 or 3 times... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Oh, Ok then I will track all that down; pull the wheel back off and get under to track down the wiring; sounds like you may be onto something there! Atleast something I need to look for, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94vertluvr Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 It RUNS! I'm amazed that you can take over parts; replace with a new part and put it all back together and something else happens!!! The mystery of cars! The thing I looked at was the battery and the cables; cleaned the battery even though it was new and cleaned the connectors; noticed that they were a little grungy but not too excessive but all in all I wanted to eliminate that from the equation. Got out the dremel and cleaned those suckers out good; noticed something I didn't notice when removing them that I now had a little spark; hmmm i thought that was interesting; tightened them down and checked the dome light and it was lit! Charged the battery to 100% and she fired right up!! Amazing that the simple removal the negative terminal can do this! Â I want to thank MemphisMan, Slick, Crazy K, Gnatgosplat and all the others who inspire me on this site to do things that i've never done before! I may have to buy a few tools along they way to do the job but when it's finished and all works its pure satisfaction!! Thanks for the help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Congrats! I'm glad it was just a bad connection. You can also pop the bolts out of the battery terminals and clean those and the inside part as well. Mine have needed it on occasion. Â It couldn't have been a short anyway as was previously mentioned because that would have made a good sized spark and something would get hot and smelly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemphisMan Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 I love it when a plan comes together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairdo12 Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 edit: nevermind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Didn't get to this thread soon enough, but yeah, if battery is showing full charge, and you aren't getting anything anywhere, you had a bad connection, or a short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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