Alternator connector, that little single wire?

[TerribleTed]

Hello.,.Is the single red wire that comes out of that 4 pin alternator connector strictly an output that feeds to the BCM and then Volt Gauge or if this red wire is severed will it keep the Alternator from charging,,,
I want to think its an output only and not bicirectional,,,

anyway my alt is out and to the spin test bench it goes,,,,

[redbird555]

yes you need to fix it if its broken it controls the gauge but it also tells the pcm how much to charge so without it your alt willl not charge

[SMWS6TA]

This may help you.

http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133361

[Smittro]

That is the "excite" wire.. Without it the Alt will not begin charging after startup.. It goes to the PCM not the BCM..

[southpaw0314]

That is the "excite" wire.. Without it the Alt will not begin charging after startup.. It goes to the PCM not the BCM..

he is correct i accidentally pulled the wire out when i did motor mounts and it wouldnt charge the battery.

[TerribleTed]

So here is my follow up...

the PS leaks onto the Alternator,,,not good..it will cause it to go bad or burn the hell up,..so fix the PS leak or as I have a little leak,,,placed some sheets of aluminum foil sandwiched in some fashion between the PS and the Alt (airflow not compromised).
But now that that little red wire that was severed at the plastic connnector juntion has been fixed,,,the car now runs again.

So here is my how to on how to open that connector that conects 1 wire to the Alternator: First if the wire is severed remove the conector frm the ALT. Not look at that connector. It has a few pieces to it. One piece is a cap that when you remove it allows you to from the bottom end push the metal female portion of the connector upward and out of the plastic connnector. This then allows you to remove the waterproof semi condom (blue ish in color). Save this aside. Should you get lucky and that female metal connector comes out-you can solder a small thin red wire to it-then solder that wire to the other end of the wire and then reverese assembly it.

So for my mods,,,(I added 6 inches of 10 gauge wire to the battery to alt wire connector and 6 inches of small wire to whats called the Excite wire). This additional wire lengh now allows me to remove my alternator bracket/bolts and drop the alternator enough to get at the connnector and the main wire stud bolt.

Over all the removal of the Alternator now takes me 15 mins. Practise makes perfection,,

So all make sure that that little red wire that comes from the alternator is in place,,,if functions a dual roll from what I have learned. That connector if the wire is broken off right where it goes into the connector is not to hard to pull apart. That red wire is the L-Term connection if I remember correctly.