I finally decided to start up my truck to see if I wired up the HEI relay correctly. When I first started it up, the engine kind of jumped back, like when I had the distributor wires backwards. I then took the wire off from the battery post that went to the B+ and it started right off and ran great.
I then tried it again with the wire hooked back up, and it bucked again and some smoke started to come out of carb again.
What did I do wrong?
Thanks
Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

Wow. That's...weird! That 10ga wire goes only from the alternator B+ to the battery +, without any stops along the way?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Yep straight from the alternator B+ to pos. battery post.
I have it bolted to this I know it is a side post ,but that is what mine is like,except a top post, would that cause the problem.

Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

No, that wouldn't cause any problem. And (this is the weird part) the ignition system has no way of knowing or caring whether the 10ga cable you describe is present or absent!

Where are you getting your power for the ignition system?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I am going to check real quick ,but I did think of one thing I also did different, tell me if it was stupid.
When I hooked the wire to the B+ on the alternator I could not bolt it down with the top nut because of the plastic housing around the stock wire.
I decided to bolt it down to the first nut that holds down the rectifier, since it has a insulator between the nut and insulator , I decided to put a washer after the insulator so the wire would be sandwiched with metal.
Would that be the problem?

_________________
81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

OK , i cranked it up with 10 ga wire off, the battery , coil , module, and alternator all had 14.40v


Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

Im sorry I missread your question, I am getting power to the ignition system from my relay which is from the B+ for constant power , and the original positive coil wire for the 12v ignition power , does that seem right?


Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

If you get 14 volts at the (+) terminal on the coil, dump the relay and power your HEI unit directly off the (+) coil terminal.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Reed,
I am powering my coil and module with a relay with dual 87 posts.
I guess if I cant figure out my problem with the 10ga wire I will probably ditch it.


Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

That is just an odd problem. Running a cable from the B terminal on the alt straight to the (+) on the battery shouldn't cause any problems.

Have you tried starting the motor with the 10g wire disconnected and then connecting it with the engine running? Try that with a voltmeter checking the voltage and see what happens. Hopefully it won't go BOOM.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

That is what I am scared to do. I do not want to be the " Lets see what happens if I do this" guy.
should you get a little spark or something when you touch the 10ga wire to the post ( not running) , because I do not.
The only other thing I can think of is, the power wire for the relay and the 10 ga wire are sandwiched together between the washer and the bottom nut, but I doubt that is a problem

Thanks for all and any replies
Dave

_________________
81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

Any chance the added thickness of the terminal on the 10 auge wire is moving the terminal for the relay power wire and grounding the relay wire on the case of the alternator? I just reread that you are attaching terminals underneath the plastic insulator. If you do this, make absolutely positively sure that nothing can ground on the case of the alternator.

I have serviced several alternators (both from my brother's van) where the B+ terminal on the alt has somehow grounded against the case due to different part failure. Both resulted in a dead alternator.

If the motor is off, there should not be any spark when you attach the wire.

The smoke from the carb could be either cooking wires or smoke out of the carburetor from a misfire.

This is a good puzzler...

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I think the smoke from the carb is from a missfire.
I will try to explain this to you , you have the alternator, then there is the insulator . I then put on a washer , then the wire for the relay, then the 10ga wire, then the bottom nut that holds down the rectifier, then the factory wire for the alternator that has a plastic housing around it , then then the final nut. I hope that is a good explanation of what I have done



Thanks
Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .

No, don't. The relay cannot hurt, it can only help.

Remember, the voltage you measure with the circuit energised but unloaded (not operating) tells you little about the circuit's voltage drop under load.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Well , I finally made it home before it got dark. took everything off, I left the washer off, and swapped the wires around from what I had .I bolted everything back up and hooray , it cranked like a charm.I'm not sure exactly what the problem was, but I don't have it anymore.
What is the chance the alternator was messed up from what happened, how can I check it.

Thanks for your replies
Dave

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81 Dodge D150
It looked easier in the book .