Couple of problems I need help with...

[red71cheyenne]

These are both on the '71 with the tune port:
The one wire alternator has taken to not wanting to charge til I rev the engine up around 3,000+ rpm. This morning I had to jump the battery wire to one of the terminals in the plug to get to work at all. Anyone know of a fix for this?

Other one is my thermostat housing on the tune port is leaking like a sieve. I've tried the o-ring gasket, form-a-gasket and a plain old paper one. Still no luck. The one bolt hole on the far side has been replaced with a stud and nut since the threads were shot and its aluminum. Any ideas on how to get it to stop leaking? I'm putting about a gallon of water in the truck a day.

Thanks, Jeff.

[roj2323]

with the alternator take a voltage tester and test the voltage on the alternator it's self by putting the red lead on the + and the black on the alternator case and a known good ground. if there is a diffrence between the case and ground voltages check your grounds first. however if there is less than 13 volts the alternator is no good. idealy it should actuly be 14.5 volts. replace it if nessasary.

as for the therostat housing. remove it, lightly clamp it in a vice and rasp it or sand it with a DA so it is flat again. it is likely warped like mine was. use new gaskets.

good luck.

[sneakysnake]

When all else fails.LOL

[VetteVet]

you should go to this website and read about the one-wire internal voltage regulator. It explains how you need to rev the engine to excite the alternator field and how you might get low voltage output. You can swap out this regulator for a three wire just by changing the regulator and adding the wiring in the vehicle harness. If you aren't comfortable with disassembling the alternator then swapping the alternator might be best.
roj2323 is correct on the voltage readings but the regulator is the culprit.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...l%3Den%26lr%3D

[red71cheyenne]

I'll try flattening out the housing. That might be what it is. Didn't think of that. Thanks. As for the alternator, its putting out once you get it to kick in. Its getting it to kick in thats an issue. Anyone know if I just ran a permanent wire to the batt terminal on the back to the field terminal if that would cure it? Is this going to burn it up? Thanks again, Jeff.

[Longhorn Man]

has it been like that since it was installed?
On a one wire, it will not charge untill you rev it, and depending on the pully ratio, you can have to rev the p!ss out of it to get it to do so.

[red71cheyenne]

It had been working fine til a couple of days ago. Normally I'd start it in the morning and rev it up to 1500-2000 and it would start charging. The last two days though, 3000 last night to come home and this morning, had to jumper it out. I'd like to change it out eventually to a CS144 alternator and eliminate this whole low rpm problem. Thanks for the help guys, Jeff.

[nu2-72]

On my housing, I used a piece of wet-or-dry sanding paper and some light oil. Placed the paper on a smooth hard surface and "Honed" the entire surface at once. You will be able to see any high spots this way and will be able to see when it is completely flat and even.
This was a trick shown to me by an old boy that used to rebuild Q-jets. Seems that the top plates get warped by some over-tightening of the breather nut and gas seeps over into the carb. Pulls the center of the plate up. I picked up 8 mpg after "milling" my old carb top plate. Tighten the breather nut just snug and one turn more.
Works great for water necks also because you can do the entire affected area at once.