Lurch

Our 81 daily driver developed a problem on the way to work. The Choke and battery light came on (and stays on) and the Alt guage reads at 13v (lower than usually runs). When I disconect the wire at elec. choke, the choke light goes out but Bat. light stays on. I have 12v at the Elec. choke connector. Also with key off, I have continuity between same connector and ground. normal? I pulled choke/ guage fuse- choke light goes out, bat still on. The bat. light is dim at idle and bright at higher rpm's. I had Alternator checked and it's putting out 15v. I hooked volt meter at battery, and it shows 12.08 v and no change at higher rpm's. When I turn the car off, the voltage starts to climb. Sounds to me that I have a short but where do I start. The choke wire is fine from choke to firewall, and ground wires are clean at the Alt. Any input would be appreciated, I don't know how long it will run like this.

Lurch

I also disconnected the choke relay under the center console and that didn't make any changes from above.

UKPaul

Lurch,
I had exactly the same on my '81 last summer. The problem was those horrible p. circuit boards behind the dash. Getting them out was a lot easier then I thought it would be (just trying to cheer you up!!).
The tracks on the p. circuit had lifted at the point where the connector goes in, so there was either a bad connection or maybe a short. I also found a broken track in the circuit. To fix it I glued the tracks back down to the plastic at the connector point &, when dry, cleaned them gently with fine wet-or-dry paper. I jumped the broken track with a piece of wire which I soldered to each side of the break. Also glued & cleaned the tracks on the P. circuit behind the clocks, but I don't know which one fixed the fault! If you look at the wiring diagram the choke & Gen lights share common circuitry which is what made me pull my dash apart. Before ripping into it, it's worth getting your hand up behind the gauge cluster & giving the connector to the P. circuit a little "wiggle", as the problem could just be corrosion on the contacts (I think you have to take out the glovebox (6 screws) to get to it, but it was quite a while ago & my memory isn't all it could be! :) ).
Good luck with it (& don't forget that there are 2 screws joining the centre console plate to the bottom of the gauge cluster :mad ),
Paul

rhoeven

Lurch,
Do you measure 12 Volt at the red wire of the 2 pole connector which plugs into the alternator? (key in run position but engine off)
If you don't have a voltmeter, does the underhood light work? (the voltage for both comes from fusible link at starter solenoid)
If you have an '81 shop manual, check out page 8A-11

Hope this helps

Roger

Lurch

Thanks for the help. The good news is I got it charging again. I checked the voltage at the battery and at the output off the Alternator while running. I thought it was kinda low so I took the Alt off and had Advance check it. It was putting out 15v, a lot higher than my meter said. So I put it back on and tore the center console out. (been in there before, not too scary) I checked all the contacts and runs on the printed circuit and found nothing. At least it wasn't wasted, I did find one bad bulb. I made a few more phone calls and kept coming up with Alt. problem. I took the car over to Advance and checked the Alt on the vehicle and not on there fancy test board. A N D.... Bad Alternator. It's back on the road again and behind the console got it's 5 year cleaning. Thanks again. Tom