Alternator wiring question

[Ajventura2]

It seems as though my M1008 isn't charging correctly on the Gen1 side. The gen2 side is charging great and the back battery is getting plenty of voltage. However, the drivers side alternator is not putting out and charging the front battery. The gen1 light on my dash has never worked so I am not sure if it is a wiring issue or the actual alternator. From my understanding, the 2 wire plug on the alternator, the red wire is always hot 12v and the brown one is suppose to be hot only when the key is turned on. Well the brown one does not go hot with the key turned on. I really do not feel like tracking down that wire and trying to figure out why it is not getting hot, but is there a way to bypass the whole system and just tie that brown wire into another system that only turns on with the key? Thanks.

 

[cpf240]

If the bulb doesn't work, the alt won't charge. I'd start by replacing the bulb.

 

[Ajventura2]

The plastic where the bulb twists in for the gen1 light is worn out and the bulb will not stay in the socket. I can care less if the actual light works. But I need to know how to bypass the light and still get the alternator to work. Does the alternator just need 12v when the key is turned on at the brown exciter wire to work?

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

The light is a necessary part of the circuit. You cannot just bypass it.

 

[Warthog]

One thing you will find here is that most members will not tell you how to hack your wiring. We spend an untold number of hours helping people fix hack jobs.

To fix you instrument cluster and the GEN1 light should be very simple. It may be a simple as fixing the tabs on the bulb socket. We even have threads in the CUCV Helpful Threads sticky.

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER
CUCV Instrument Cluster Cleanup
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthr...luster-Cleanup

CUCV Instrument Cluster Repair
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthr...Cluster-Repair

CUCV Instrument Cluster Decoded
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthr...luster-Decoded


Now with that being said it is your truck and you may do with it as you please.

The bulb provides a certain amount of resistance for the exciter circuit. Many Delco Remy tech manuals explain this. Here is a PDF file for Delco Remy alternators

View attachment Alternator 27SI.pdf
Here is a basic diagram