47-55.1 Help from smarter people

[dsraven]

sounds like it.
did you find a number on your sending unit while you were digging around?

the knock sensor you can ignore or remove if you think it is rusty and will come apart causing a coolant leak. it is pipe thread like any other small block chevy block drain. gut the wiring harness of the electrical that goes to the knock sensor if you want, doesn't matter really
you could also remove the oil light sensor if not using it and plug the hole if you like, same reason. old stuff tends to leak or come apart when least expected and not usually when you're close to home where the tools are.

[Matt_50]

No I need to clean it off. I still like the idea of a idiot light though, had a oil pump go out once... engine was no good really fast.

[Matt_50]

Since we are talking about gauges...


My alternator and volt meter. 10si, alternator. Has a stud and a two prong plug.

EZ kit has two wires that run to the alternator. Red power wire and a white excitor wire. Kit also included this plug and the black( power?) Wire as a ring terminal on it. Why? The included instructions simplt show the red and white wires going to the plug.

What about the stud? Does the plug plugin and the white goes to white and the red goes to stuff and the black with ring terminal go to stud?

[Matt_50]

Update.

I was iffy about the ohms not reading no matter what so I grabbed another volt meter.

Across the two tabs reads 8.6

From with tab to case is still nothing.

[mr48chev]

Look at diagram B at the bottom left.

https://www.vdo-instruments.com/medi...c%20Gauges.pdf

30 minutes of reading on the VDO site tells me that first, that is called a floating ground switch. Secondly it does not have contact to ground until you have the minimum pressure against it to turn the light off. G being Gauge WK being light. That is why you do not get a ground reading with it in your hand.

Side question, Do you know what the original donor was for that engine? That might explain the knock sensor and the pressure sensor above the oil filter. I would remove and plug both of those to prevent leaks in the future. Unless you have the computer they came with they serve no purpose outside being plugs that will eventually leak.

[Matt_50]

The tabs are not marked on the sender...

[Matt_50]

Engine is from a 84 c10.


If I wanted to, could I remove the pressureswitch above the filter and put a sender there?

[mr48chev]

A Bit of checking shows that the 84 C 10 with a 350 came with either a regular quadrajet or an electronic quadrajet That wiring harness and module and the sensors may have been for the electronic carb that it no doubt no longer has.

More searching shows that the distributor was a standard HEI and not externally controlled by a computer.

[1project2many]

The black wire is voltage sense. It is red in an original applications. It is often connected to the alternator output terminal. This puts the alternator output at the voltage regulator set point all the time. If you are using an electric fan or a/c you may want to lengthen the wire and connect it to a battery so the regulator increases voltage when the battery needs extra charge.

The white wire excites the alternator. (Alternators love white wires.) That wire is brown in an original application. It will connect to the wire which connects to volt gauge or idiot light. It can also connect to a diode as I have done. Or it can be left disconnected with hopes the alternator will self excite when engine RPM is high enough.

[Matt_50]

Like this??

[1project2many]

That looks correct. The diode might not be need to be there so I'd try it without adding it in.

[mr48chev]

Here, pick a number. One matches what you have on your drawing pretty close. I'm having trouble between photobucket and my intenet being so slow so I hope it works.







I've done several using the bottom one with the diode rather than the light. If you don't put on or the other in the line the alternator the alternator feeds back to the ignition when you turn the key off and the engine won't shut off.

[Matt_50]

Thanks! Pictures help make it all make sense.

My EZ harness looks to have a big 10 ga wire that is for fuse box power. It is supposed to run to the positive side of the solenoid. The kit came with a fusible link to put in that wire too.

The alt wire also comes from the fuse box. The way EZ wants it wired is like in this first picture. I added diode and voltmeter.


Taking yalls advice on the alternator and using what Mark said at MAD electrical, I made the 2nd diagram. 2nd picture.

Alt wire supplies power just like the bigger 10ga one does right? Wiring it like you guys said, is the alt wire now redundant? Can I take it out between solenoid and terminal block? Does the alt wire need a fusible link?

[1project2many]

I believe you'll find the diode is not needed. If you are going to try adding it, make sure it allows current from the key to the alternator.

[Matt_50]

I just read where a guy thinks the 10ga wire and the alt wire might be connected at the fuse box.

If I wire it where the alt charge goes straight to battery.... I could remove the alt wire out of the fuse box couldn't I?

[Matt_50]

Just got off the phone with a guy who has done a few EZ kits and yes he saidvthe two wires are connected in fuse box. I think I will erase the alt wire from my diagram except for where it hooks to battery.

He said the EZ kit would have the charge alt wire go all the way back to the fuse box and connect to the 10ga wire.

I already started wiring alt to battery instead of looping through fuse box so I think this is what I'll do.