Alternator/CHARGE issue

[dfj240]

Alright, I'm getting half-ass answers from Club4AG, so I wanted to try to get some opinions from here. Here's the info I've got on my problem.

- Car is an 85 GT-S with a bluetop 4AGEC
- Car will run, but only on battery power.
- Alternator is brand new
- CHARGE warning light on cluster does not illuminate prior to start attempt
- CHARGE warning light bulb is perfectly fine and is not blown
- CHARGE, ENGINE, IGN, and ECU-IG fuses are all perfectly perfect
- Wiring from Alt. to Batt. is fine with no corrosion, breaks, loose connections, etc.
- Gauge cluster wiring appears to all be intact and functional
- Gauge cluster itself shows all lights except for CHARGE, and DOOR, and right side illumination even though all bulbs are fine
- Alt. requires the CHARGE light to be operable for whatever strange reason that I'm yet to discover.

- I was told that there is a relay of sorts for the CHARGE light, which I'm yet to find, even after pouring through the AE86 wiring manual. I've searched through all the relays I can find under the dash, to no avail.
- My only idea was to change to gauge cluster, as I figure it could be faulty circuitry leading to the bulb or something of the sort. That or I'm just completely missing something.

Any help or suggestions is welcomed greatly, even if you think they're retarded. Because honestly, I've exhausted the extent of my mechanic knowledge, so if you've got something I haven't checked, I'm all ears.

Unfortunately, I don't have an multimeter, or any such electronic tools. I've had to get rid of them, so I've got good old fashioned wrenches and screwdrivers. :D

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading.

-Nathan

[dr.occa]

is the charge wiring (from the alt to the fusible link and to engine bay fuse block) original or has it been altered, or do you know? outside of replacing it out of a known, unmolested gts harness, i'd get the wiring to where you know it's by the book. i finally broke down and re-did the alt wiring with one from a kyu-ni. no more going through 3-4 alts a year (did that for 5 years...talk about procrastination).

[dfj240]

lol. That is procrastination at it's finest. lol. None of the wiring to the fusible link has been altered at all. As far as I can tell the only botched wiring at all is to the headlights and windshield wipers because the switches are missing. As far as the alternator wiring goes, it's exactly as it should be, to the best of my knowledge. Is it possible to bypass the CHARGE light in order to just get it running temporarily? Or would that just be really dumb? Also, what if I simply wired in a light of my own to the side using the necessary routing, rather than allowing it to go to the gauge cluster? I just need to get it running as soon as possible, because it is being sold. Thanks doc.

-Nathan

[dr.occa]

lol. That is procrastination at it's finest. lol. None of the wiring to the fusible link has been altered at all. As far as I can tell the only botched wiring at all is to the headlights and windshield wipers because the switches are missing. As far as the alternator wiring goes, it's exactly as it should be, to the best of my knowledge. Is it possible to bypass the CHARGE light in order to just get it running temporarily? Or would that just be really dumb? Also, what if I simply wired in a light of my own to the side using the necessary routing, rather than allowing it to go to the gauge cluster? I just need to get it running as soon as possible, because it is being sold. Thanks doc.

-Nathan

does the car start up just fine? it's possible that the wiring to the cluster for the indicator may be bad and it's just an annoyance now. hook up a voltage gauge to see if you're between 12-14 volts running.

[dfj240]

Car starts up fine when the battery has juice and the engine main relay does it's job. lol. Gave me a bunch of problems yesterday, so I'm buying a new one today. It started and stayed running yesterday after my attempt to fix it, until the engine main relay finally stopped working for good. lol. In any case, I'll update once I get the EMR switched and try to get it started up.

-Nathan

[mooreofit]

check to see if you have battery voltage at the atinator 12v feed connector. i forget how many pins there are but make sure theres a solid 12v there.my bet there is not. trace down the stock wiring diagram and check the circuit. it might just be a fuze.