OMG my car won't shut off!!! Help!!!

[greentrees]

Ok I just replaced my alternator and volt reg today because it didn't start earlier. Got the parts from Autozone because I wanted something quick. Now I can't turn the car off! Had to unplug the distributor to shut it down for now. Did I plug it up wrong? The back of the new ALT doesn't look exactly like the old.

The old ALT just had a wire connected to the E and A locations but the new ALT has a BAT and two E locations for connections. I feel like such an idiot. I'm going to put the new ALT back an see if it helps.

Please give some insight, I need all the help I can get!

[Zed Head]

Sounds like you might have got an internally regulated alternator by mistake. I just read an account from the past, and a recent one on this forum, about "run-on" when an internally regulated alternator is connected to an external regulator.

E just stands for Earth. earth = ground

[greentrees]

Hey thnx Zed. Looks like you hit the nail on the head with this one. I know I should've searched the forum first but I'm posting from a phone without wifi and I just wanted to get back out there to start taking the ALT off. Well I put the old ALT back on and everythings fine. I'm such an idiot. What a waste of time and energy. Gonna try n get my $$$ back tmrw then buy one from a more reputable Z dealer. Thnx again mate! Aye aye!!

[EScanlon]

Contact MSA and check for their Alternator Plug-In which allows you to use the internally regulated alternator with the earlier circuitry Z (which requires the external regulator).

E

[ajmcforester]

Hey at least you know the car works we normally get the opposite on this site

Hey keep your old alternator they are easy to rebuild and it's not a bad idea to have an extra, I get parts from an alternator shop in Trenton NJ. Also make sure your external regulator is in good shape that can be a pain when not working properly. I wish you could get a rebuild kit from the autopart store but people just don't rebuild their stuff any more

[Zed Head]

...I'm such an idiot. What a waste of time and energy. Gonna try n get my $$$ back tmrw then buy one from a more reputable Z dealer. Thnx again mate! Aye aye!!

No problem. Thanks for getting back with the solution. Now I know for sure what happens if you connect two regulators in series.

[greentrees]

Thanks for the tips so far guys but I got another question for y'all (of course). So I want to go with the MSA upgrade Escanlon mentioned but the orig VR has a wire spliced. Will the MSA upgrade still be just as PNP as it's meant to be? Looks like the car has a few mickey mouse wirings going on. Here are some pics, hope someone can make sense of it all. I tried looking thru the FSM but that mess is to complicated for a simpleton like me.

God I hope I even uploaded these pics right. Had to get a photobucket acct just for this.

Edited June 24, 2011 by greentrees