I am using the Bosch style relay that has four connectors. Pins 85, 86, 87 and 30 There is a dedicated ground wire connector. I have also tried another good quality clear case relay as well as a second Bosch style but this was much lower capacity. All three stick.

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

My bad. There was a very small voltage on the coil. 4 volts. It didn't show on my cheapy shop meter I was using so I used a better one. This was enough to hold the relay in the closed position. I have spent a few hours going thru the bulkhead connector and found the usual fried main leads and corrosion on the others. Not sure what was causing the 4 volts on the ignition wire but hopefully after the connectors are cleaned and protected and the mains are solid thru the bulkhead, I will be back to the factory alt field set up without the relay. I will post when complete. Thanks all for your help. This car would be in bad shape if it weren't for this forum.

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

Still can't figure this one out. I have gone thru the entire bulkhead connector and every connector in the blue wire that feeds the alternator fields. The only connection not fixed is that inside the ignition switch. I am still getting 4 volts on the wire holding the relay closed. I assume this voltage is somehow backfeeding through the alternator main wire through the field windings which are dropping the voltage to the 4 volts and holding the relay. A temp fix was to install momentary switch in the grill which I press every time I turn off the car. This breaks the coil voltage which opens the relay and the 4 volt goes away. This saves the battery so on start up the relay closes again and all works great until the next shut down.

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

Do you have any kind of stereo in the car?

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Joshua

Yes there is a radio. Do you think this is causing a problem?

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

Modern stereos are fed full time 12V and switched 12V. It occurred to me that a defective stereo could be feeding power through to the switched side and keeping your relay energized. I would unplug the stereo and see what happens.

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Joshua

Good call. This will happen tonight. Are you familiar with alternator windings? Is there a connection between the field windings and the main wire running to the battery that could back feed? Maybe if the alt is defective? I am not familiar with alternators and how the field windings work and need to be energized to get output. I know that if you spin a DC motor you get voltage output on the power wires but DC and AC of course are different.

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

The field windings are isolated from the case and stator so there should not be any back-feed to the field from the stator or battery.

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Joshua

You might have a small back-feed through the alternator field ground control via the voltage regulator (try unplugging the green alt field wire after shutting the engine off). I would move your relay so that at least the VR ignition feed & the alternator field (both blue wires) are switched by the relay. Most folks put the entire (blue) ign + circuit downstream of the relay, so the ballast resistor, ign module, VR, & alt field + are all fed Batt+ from the relay.

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63 Valiant Wagon
225 - 4 bbl

That was it. Thanks. I did have the blue wire from the ignition controlling the relay but the blue wire also fed the voltage regulator. Once I moved the volt reg wire to the relay contact all is good. I might move the relay upstream later but for now am just happy it's running again.

So now I have the main alt wire (8 ga) running from the alt to the battery. I also have a second wire from the battery going through the relay contacts and now feeding both alt field connectors (one through the volt reg). The question is ... can I eliminate the second power wire going to the relay contacts and just use the power from the 8ga wire or will this cause problems? Seems like they are both coming direct from the battery but then again I don't want to upset the alternator again. Thoughts?

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

If you allow me to be quasi-philosophical for a moment; it is very easy to forget that your electrical power source is the alternator, not the battery. You actually have to turn focus away from the battery as a power source, the battery is just a buffer, that also holds current enough to start the engine when the alternator is not providing power. My new setup focus on having a clear distinction between the circuits; one that provides power, and one that use the power. You will probably have a large voltage drop through the main wiring harness, and when you have a part of the circuit getting full power from the alternator with it's new heavy wires, and separate items feeding off the other part of the main harness that is controlled by the ignintion switch and may suffer from a voltage drop, there will be conflicting voltage levels according to what power drains that are currently activated, and that will add to fluctating lights. That is the reason for my use of relays, power comes from the alternator part of the circuit with stable voltage, relay triggering is provided by input from items in the less voltage stable old circuit. WagonsRcool point to just that kind of a problem, what may look right on a wiring diagram is not always the best!

Olaf

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Aspenized

I would recommend using a central power junction point, be it the battery stud on the starter relay or another binding post (large stud mounted on an insulated base). From there have a lead to the battery, a lead to the alternator output, & one to the vehicle dash wiring (& underhood fuseblock, etc.) Then have multiple - redundant - large gauge ground cables (from engine to battery, engine to body, & body to battery). The idea is to have minimal voltage drop between the alt & battery under all conditions. From there you supply all other vehicle loads from the one junction point, & can fuse each circuit appropriately.

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63 Valiant Wagon
225 - 4 bbl

I still wish you luck on this if you havent resolved the issue... I have the same issue still and have done everything mentioned above as well... Reman alt, brand new VR, new (+) and (-) cables, 4 awg charge cable from alt to batt, and added grounds from batt to all factory ground locations under the hood. Opened the wiring and replaced both field wires from the VR to the alt...

Lights still pulse, and didnt do it until I put the reman alternator on there...

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"if it aint broke, fix it till it is"
78 Plymouth Volare Super Six wagon
89 Volkswagen Golf GTI 16v
92 Chevrolet K1500 5.7
98 Ford Escort ZX2 zetech

Old School, no unfortunately I am also still pulsating. Not as bad so I am getting better but still a weak pulse. The only thing that fixed it was to run a wire from the battery plus in front of the radiator to a relay and then to the two alt fields (one via the VR). The relay was switched by the blue wire that comes from the ign sw. That worked great. Unfortunately it looked bad with all that extra wiring so I tried to move the relay to under the dash. Now the relay is fed from the constant hot on the fuse block and runs thru the fire wall to the alt. This relay is controlled by the same blue wire from the ign sw. So the only connection I have removed from the old ign sw blue wire circuit really is the ign switch. I get a few 1/10ths volt drop from the fuse block and additional 1/10th volt drop at each connection. Even tho I have cleaned all connections and lubed with bulb grease. So by the time I get to the alt I'm a volt lower than the battery. My next trick will be to move the relay to the fire wall, fed from the battery with dedicated solid wire all the way to the alt. This will be controlled by the blue ign sw wire. Just need to hide the ded wire in the harness. I will post with results. By the way don't unplug the VR wire at the alt with power on. Oops. Fried the VR.

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE

I have it fixed. My wiring harness has a white/black 8 pin connector right behind the valve cover on the fire wall. I intersected the blue wire at this connector and attached both blue wires together to the output of a 30 amp Bosch relay mounted to the fire wall just to the side of the heater hoses. I pulled the same blue wire out of the bulkhead connector (engine side) and taped it covered. I then ran a wire from the battery to the relay to feed the two blue wires from the white/black connector above. I ran a new wire from the bulkhead connector to control the relay and ran the relay ground to its own mounting screw. No Pulsating! Let me know if you need a wiring diagram or photos. This is basically what all said to do above but for my particular set up and looks clean when complete. Thanks everyone.

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'64 Valiant Conv V8
'72 Scamp /6 4bbl
'79 Adventurer SE