1993 Cad Eldorado - Charging Problem

[lauterbachs]

93 caddy eldorado touring 4.6
alternator not charging so replaced it....still not charging...found the wire going too the battery from the alternator burnt inhalf repaired it now the alternator is shorting out ...so disconnected the wire and ran a wire straight from the alternator to the battery incase there was a short....still same thing..still shorting out ..the wire i used to bypass the feed is a 10 gauge wire it will get very hot!!! any ideas?

[steven kiser]

sounds like the alternator is junk. make sure it's connected properly. if the wire from the alternator to the battery is isolated and it heats up, i would think that either the alternator is junk or somehow the wiring is wrong. i've seen where people have fed the alternator with the negative side of the battery. also check the connectors at the battery. i've seen some that short internally causing issues like this.

[steven kiser]

oh ya, just noticed your a first time poster. welcome.......................

[Tim Martin]

First of all, welcome to the forum. You'll see all kinds of good stuff, tips, ideas, and whatever for your business. Trust me. I been here since February of this year and really like this Mitchell forum.

Along with the idea that steve gave, it could also be a bad battery. I have seen where a battery would not take a charge and I would up with a situation like you are describing. But if I was a bettin man, I would bet on a bad out of the box alternator. Did you check the amperage on the wire from battery to alternator as it was charging, even though it got hot? That could clue ya in on the problem. HTH!

[lauterbachs]

yes i have used 3 alternators 1 of which came off of a car that i knew the alternater was good there are 2 wires coming off the plug..1 feeds the amp gauge the other is a feed wire that the wiring diag says goes to the charging circuit????what charging circuit?..the amp gauge works in the car so im assuming its wired right ....if i pull the feed wire out of the plug and reconnect my main wire to the battery nothing happens no short nothing....and have tried a new battery....i know the computer controles the charging on some cars but i cant find any information on weither or not this one does....under testing it says put a resister in the feed wire that goes to the charging circuit and supply 12 volts to it for bench testing....resister???could the computer controle the voltage...and yes checked the alternater to see if charging wile wire was getting hot it is its over charging it pegs my amp guage off the chart...

[Tim Martin]

Hey! I checked in with my Mitchell1 service info and, yes, the PCM does control the alternator. In addition, if you were able to connect your scan tool you may find a dtc indicating an area of malfunction. So, the culprit could be the PCM in this case. HTH

[lauterbachs]

yes i have codes.....lots of codes lol so i will try to locate a pcm for it today i will let u know if this fixes it thx

[steven kiser]

the pcm does control the alternator but unless it's calling for full field that wire shouldn't heat up unless the cable at the battery is corrouded. if the primaty wire shorted and burn't through i'de lean to the cable end.

[wbuxton]

Voltage drop test will isolate high resistance. If this was a Ford I'd say use an OEM but I can't remember any inherent problems with GM's.

[Stewart Levy]

SO?

[lauterbachs]

srry i ordered a computer havent got it yet plus im tring to get a salvage yard i deal with to lend me 1 to test with befor i open a new one....know what i mean lol i can return the new one if i dont open it i will post when i know