Alternator wiring question (with picture)

[joey_hv]

Can anyone tell me what this connector is for?
I am replacing the engine on my '98 with an engine from a '97 and the harness that came with the '97 doesn't have this connector on it but the picture of my '98 clearly shows that it was hooked up. what is it for?

 

[YBCold]

that plug is to the voltage regulator on the alternator. im not sure which wire is which but i know one of them is to the ignition.

 

[joey_hv]

so....it needs to be hooked up?

 

[YBCold]

yeah. the connector might be different in the 97 if you have to just cut the wires and solder the plug in. i did that with my first gen. i had to replace the wire harness and the plug i got was different but the wiring is the same. the 97 should have something similar coming from the alternator.

 

[2000StreetRod]

Voltage regulator wires

that plug is to the voltage regulator on the alternator. im not sure which wire is which but i know one of them is to the ignition.

I agree and disagree. The yellow/white stripe wire connects to the voltage regulator "A" terminal (closest to the alternator "B+" terminal). The green with red stripe connects to the "I" terminal (farthest from the "B+" terminal).

With the ignition ON but the engine not running there should be 12v at the "A" terminal and one volt at the "I" terminal. The yellow/white goes to Fuse 6 (15A) and the green/red stripe goes to the charge warning indicator in the instrument cluster.

 

[joey_hv]

yeah. the connector might be different in the 97 if you have to just cut the wires and solder the plug in. i did that with my first gen. i had to replace the wire harness and the plug i got was different but the wiring is the same. the 97 should have something similar coming from the alternator.

the harness that came with the '97 engine totally does not have the connector. i followed it back as far as it goes (had to remove the black tape around the currugated plastic sleeve, it appeared to not have been messed with before) and did not find any open ended wire ends or any cut wires.
It absolutely only has the two connectors shown in the picture which go to the air intake tube.
The connector on the alternator I got from the junk yard, now if I have to run those wires seperately where d they go? there is a large yellow wire and a small green wire...

here is what the "new" '97 harness looks like:

here is what my old harness looked like:

 

[joey_hv]

The yellow/white goes to Fuse 6 (15A) and the green/red stripe goes to the charge warning indicator in the instrument cluster.

duh, i should have read this before posting, thank you, it looks like i am going to have to run these seperately.

 

[joey_hv]

ok, fuse six gets power straight from the battery then it simply has a jumper going to relay #4, it supplies power to it.

do I still connect it to fuse 6?

i also checked the wire cluster at the connector coming off the engine (see picture) and i did not see either the larger yellow wire with white stripe or the little green one with the red stripe...

 

[2000StreetRod]

Regulator Harness

On my 2000 the six bundled wires that come from the MAF/IAT sensors combine with the two bundled wires that come from the voltage regulator. The combined bundle is routed under the upper air intake plenum and I can't see where it goes or comes out. The logical place would be the connector you show in the photo that is mounted in front of the ignition coil pack.

The info I provided in my previous post was based on a very limited wiring diagram for a typical 1995-99 in my Hayne's Repair Manual. The wires should be somewhere (same colors) for the 97 & 98. If fuse 6 has 12 volts only when ignition is ON then that sounds correct. Can you find a yellow/white wire connected to fuse 6?

 

[joey_hv]

I didn't see the yellow and white wire at the fuse box in the engine bay but I did find it in the bundle on the connector that is on the vehicle.

I ran the wires and hooked them up just past the connector.

This should be okay right?

 

[2000StreetRod]

Should work

From the photo it looks like you spliced into the bundle on the fuse box side of the connector instead of the engine side. Did the wires go into the connector? Were there no corresponding wires on the engine side of the connector? Did you cut the wires on the fuse box side or just tie into them? What you have done should work but I would be concerned about dangling wires that could possibly short out on the engine side if you just tied into them.

 

[joey_hv]

From the photo it looks like you spliced into the bundle on the fuse box side of the connector instead of the engine side. Did the wires go into the connector? Were there no corresponding wires on the engine side of the connector? Did you cut the wires on the fuse box side or just tie into them? What you have done should work but I would be concerned about dangling wires that could possibly short out on the engine side if you just tied into them.

I never did find the engine side wires so I ran my own and spliced them to the fuse side of the connector. Seems to be working thus far.