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Ok so now that its cold again i am have the GEN light glowing dimly again. But heres the thing it only happens when i turn the blower motor for the heater to the FAN of HI position. It dosnt matter what else is on (every other accessory can be on and the light wont glow, turn up the heater and it glows. Absolutly nothing else on but if i turn up the heater it glows). So what should i look for? The blower motor is out of an A/C equiped truck, are the motors for A/C and non A/C trucks diferent?

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

my gen light dose the same thing also you can see it dimly when its on low
I have wondered whats up with it to

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If you cant find it grind it

79 4x4 1.8 liter
75 K 10 Lifted with 383 stroker
69 Jeepster comando v6

MEPR
Traditionally, the generator warning light came on when the battery voltage was higher than the generator voltage, meaning the battery is providing the current rather than the alternator. Maybe the blower motor needs some oil on the bearings to keep it from trying to slow down and causing too great of a voltage drop.

By the way, am no longer in CDA. Moved to Colville this summer.

I'm seeing the same out of my 77 now that the weather has gotten cold and I'm using the heat. I was planning to try running a ground wire to the blower motor to see if that made any difference. It would be pretty easy to snake a wire in there clear out to the negative post on the battery even, and that would at least let you know for certain if it is just a ground issue.

During my escapades while re-wiring mine, I found out that there is NO ground to the dash area. you may want to splice into one of the ground wires, and screw it to the dash.
I also found ALOT of wires running each way (back and forth) for no apparent reason. I am sure the factory thinks they needed to be there, but I could not figure out why alot of them were there.
After I re-wired the truck.....no problems running lights, heater, fans, blinker all at once.
Re-wiring is a big job, but if I ever get another luv it will be the first thing I do to it.

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03Cobra

well ill try putting some oil on the bearings but its not howling so i dont think its that. I guess another gound wont hurt either...

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

MEPR, it doesn't have to be making noise like the bearings are dry. Just enuf friction to slow down and draw more current to get the torque that's needed to keep turning. Mine was full of dirt and copper dust from the commutator. It's a closed motor case, so that junk doesn't fall out. It just cakes up the inside. After taking the motor out, cleaning it, and oiling the bearings, it been turning fine for a couple of years now.

There's always the possibility that it's the switch, too. Easy enough to remove the wires and jumper it to see if it does the same thing. All my switches were funky so I dosed them all with PB Blaster solvent and WD-40 for lube and everything works much better. Same goes for blower motor as mentioned. And yes, the circuit is grounded somewhere, and on automotive wiring that's very often the problem spot. I check grounds first, then start chasing gremlins.

#11

where is the ground wire to the blower

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If you cant find it grind it

79 4x4 1.8 liter
75 K 10 Lifted with 383 stroker
69 Jeepster comando v6

well i noticed that the light is on VARY dim if i run the lights and tunr the turn signal on. Im begining to wonder if this is a side efect of all the gages i run becouse each one has its own light and then the front bumper i made has trailer lights in it so they are bigger heavy duty guys that make my flasher turn over at about half speed. But the thing is my ammeter dosnt read a draw, but at the same time it dosnt read a charge. Could i actually be overloading my charging sytem?

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

If your ammeter doesn't show a charge or discharge current, it's either gone belly up or connected wrong. It should be in series in the main charging wire that goes from the Batt terminal on the alternator to the + post of the battery.

well when i first start up it shows a charge so i know it works and everything, what i was meaning was when everything is on and the gen light is glowing it shows "0"

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

It sounds like it's OK then, although the sensitivity of the meter movement seems to be lacking. That's the function of the internal shunt or bypass of the meter, and there's nothing much you could do about that except by another ammeter.

well the ammeter moves perty well. I sat in the parking lot turning the lights on and off and stuff of that nature. It will twitch when i turn the lights on and if the engine is off it reads about 10amps of draw whith everything on. Then when i start it it will read about 15amps of charge and slowly work down to 0.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

At the risk of repeating myself: the mention of slow turn signals and apparent porblems might indicate that it's time to give ALL the grounds and connections a good scrubbing. Every electrical circuit begins with power applied and ends with a return to ground, so if that ground is corroded or loose it does the same thing as restricting current flow.

I'd polish out all the bulb sockets and contacts down inside [with power off of course], clean to bare metal on light receptacles and housings where they attach to body, and even run some auxiliary ground wires. On some of my trucks I run a ground jumper from radiator support to inner fender well, from inner fender well to firewall, and another from cab to bed, with the one to bed being 10 gauge. Along with the engine ground strap and the one down at the tranny your whole electrical system is then bonded once you clean all connections and light receptacles. Your alternator, regulator and battery will LUV you for it.

It's also fairly common to have the battery cables appear to be in good condition, when in fact they are entirely corroded underneath the plastic coating. I had to fix two stalled cars last winter [not mine] for that same problem. Also no harm in putting a dab of grease at electrical and ground connections to prevent oxidation. With winter coming any advantage you can get over the moisture and weather is worthwhile.

my truck has the same problem. only the light glows dim whenever the engine is on. with or without lights, blower, wipers or all! I think its a problem with the wiring harness and poor connections. the truck is after all 26 years old and has no water proof connectors. its only left me stranded twice though and it wasn't even wiring related one was the main oil galley plug in the rear of the motor blew out and spewed oil everywhere, and the other was a failure of the fuel pump its self.

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Government... if you think the problems we create are bad just wait till you see our solutions

Speaking traditionally again, a generator light came on "normally" in two manners. When the generator slowed down enuf so that current flowed from the battery to the generator thru the generator warning light (Two positive voltages on each side of the generator light, one from the battery and the other from generator stopped the current flow when driving and the charging system was working correctly.) or when the generator slowed down enuf so the generator light relay in the voltage regulator dropped out letting the generator light come on. The LUV is the latter.

I had the same problem with my '79 4x4. I am not running it now because it needs some things to pass inspection, but I can't anyway because I just can't get it to start at all. Nothing even happens when I turn the key on. I have replaced the battery as well. I believe someone mentioned that it could be a grounding issue ? Run another ground ? Is there a way to test this, like run a jumper cable from negative on battery to the motor somewhere and see if the truck turns over ? I remember someone mentioning something about the grounding strap ? I am not really planning on running this truck too much, but I would like to be able to at least start it up to run it some and move it around when I need to. Is there any other things I need to check that may be the cause of this ? Any info or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

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http://www.purerockradio.net/

Yeah, you can run another ground wire. Just remember that it should be a substantial wire if you're gonna crank the engine. Just grab the longest battery wire you can find at the junkyard. Run it between the engine block, frame, and battery negative post.

This is what I was told by a reputable electric shop. I had the same problem on my 78. I change the alternator, voltage reg. redid all the wires to the alt. and reg. EVERYTHING I TRIED.....DID NOTHING!! The light still glowed dimmly...SO! I got tired of it and took it to a shop and this is what I was told....DONT WORRY ABOUT IT!!! Its caused from age and the condition of ALL THE WIRES!! Just not the ones to the volt reg. and alt. Now if the light glows really bright...then you have a problem. So I just drove it.....untill some A-HOLE stole it....Never have recovered the thing!!
Brother B.
Idaho