alternator question

[T.Dot E30]

Open up the wiring harness. There is a Blue wire that goes to the dash. I had a car where that wire was melted and grounding off causing major problems.....

LOL I would take a test light, ground it, and touch another ground and it would light up.......I was like WTF.

I had to run a new wire from the altenator to the fuse box, then to the dash.

Took me 3 alternator rebuilts to fiqure this out....POS 318i. Each time it was blow the altenator. First i thought it was a bad altenator cus it stoped chargeing like 10mins after i hooked it up. After it blew the 2nd one I found the melted wire. Im not sure if its the same on the eta but u never know

[zdr262]

Arnoldgtr thanks for the info as a matter of fact the light is not turning on...... Ill check it when I get home..... Gracias :)

[zdr262]

Open up the wiring harness. There is a Blue wire that goes to the dash. I had a car where that wire was melted and grounding off causing major problems.....

LOL I would take a test light, ground it, and touch another ground and it would light up.......I was like WTF.

I had to run a new wire from the altenator to the fuse box, then to the dash.

Took me 3 alternator rebuilts to fiqure this out....POS 318i. Each time it was blow the altenator. First i thought it was a bad altenator cus it stoped chargeing like 10mins after i hooked it up. After it blew the 2nd one I found the melted wire. Im not sure if its the same on the eta but u never know

so one of the blue wires goes to the fuse box and ones goes to the back of the guage? ....

[zdr262]

The small blue wire is the exciter wire. Without power on it, you get no charge. Power comes to the blue wire from the ignition switch, then through the battery light on the instrument cluster. On early E30's, there is no resistor wired in parallel with the light. If the light burns out or if the bulb is missing, the alternator won't charge. Check the battery light by turning the ignition switch to position #2.
BTW, the second blue wire is not necessary for proper function of the alternator. It goes to the diagnostic connector.
The voltage regulator is on the right in your first picture. It is white with a black center and is attached with two screws.
HTH,

my light does not turn on when its in the second positon however it does have power.... i used a test light to see if both sides of the light showed power and it does.......grrrrrr..... i dont get it it should light up then and the light is good i took out the light and it lit up when i hooked it up to a power and a ground........could there be a ground problem because on both sides of the light it shows power so no ground........this thing is driving me crazy......any info on any ideas i can try would help alot thankssss =)

[T.Dot E30]

so one of the blue wires goes to the fuse box and ones goes to the back of the guage? ....

No one goes too umm, shit i forgot. The one that goes to the dash, either goes into the fuse box or passes right beside it then to the dash.

Get a wiring diagram if u wanna know exactly, etas might be different

[arnoldgtr]

Your battery light is doing what it should.
You should not get the same voltage on both sides of the light. If you do, then the light won't come on.
Go back to your connections at the alternator. The large red wire (B+) has power all the time. The blue wire should only have power when the ignition switch is on. With the B+ connected and the blue wire disconnected, check the terminals for voltage with the switch off. You are looking for a terminal with no voltage.