I have an 85 318i, alternator is not charging. I know that in the early cars, there was a problem with the battery light in the cluster needing to be working to allow the alternator to be excited when started. I have bypassed the cluster by soldering a wire outside of it with the bulb and holder in the middle to simulate the cluster just incase it was the cluster board that was causing the problem.
Took alternator out of the car, and had it tested at an autoparts store on a bench testing machine, came out good.
Ok, now I am getting battery voltage at the alternator D+ terminal when the ign. switch is on, as well as in the diagnostic connector, both sides of the c101 and where i have made my splices in the wiring to fix the cluster prob. Battery voltage is 12.6v when starting, but drops to ~12.2 when the car is running, same 12.2v at the alternator terminal...
Am I missing something here...I'm getting pretty frustrated??
Took alternator out of the car, and had it tested at an autoparts store on a bench testing machine, came out good.
Ok, now I am getting battery voltage at the alternator D+ terminal when the ign. switch is on, as well as in the diagnostic connector, both sides of the c101 and where i have made my splices in the wiring to fix the cluster prob. Battery voltage is 12.6v when starting, but drops to ~12.2 when the car is running, same 12.2v at the alternator terminal...
Am I missing something here...I'm getting pretty frustrated??