LK3054 Alternator

[Jimmyb33]

Allright fellas!
Yesterday evening I finally had a chance to do a little testing on the tractor. I didn't quite follow IXLR8's instructions, but I think I got some results we can work with.

Here's what I did: I clamped on my volt meter directly to the "B" connection on my alternator and to ground. I ran a wire from where the battery connects to the starter and after I cranked the engin I would touch that hot wire to the "ign" side of the replacement regulator. I could hear the engine tone change right away anf the voltage jumpped from 12.4v to ~13.3volts pretty quick at an idle. I brought the RPM's to around 1500 and watched at the voltage at the alternator went up to ~16V. I never left the hot wire on the "ign" side of the replacement regulator for more than a few seconds at a time. The alternator light on the dash never went off.

So, it seems to me that the alternator is worrking as it should, but this replacement regulator has no way to "regulate" the voltage since there is nothing coming from the alternator to tell it when to open the connection to the field.

What's next? Just buy a new regilator and try to figure out my mess of wires?
Any chance that my original regulator is still useable?

Thanks forr all the help guys!!

jb

 

[IXLR8]

Jimmy,
You may not have done it the way I suggested.. but you got the results I was after. This tells us a bunch, the alternator works, the regulator might work if you left the connection on for more than a few seconds, but you did the right (safe) thing. The voltage should be getting sensed at the IGN connection, so that is the only connection I believe you need. I suspect that your "alt" light didn't go out due to the fact it is probably connected to the 'old' regulator and that one is not doing any controlling. Other factor in this, how well charged is the battery? It may be low so that the regulator is trying hard to charge it up.
Here is what I would do from here. Start by putting a good charge on the battery, leave the charger on it overnight. Make sure it is properly filled with the proper water. Before you start it back up, put the voltmeter directly across the battery. Start it up, set the idle around 1400, then hook the wire up to the IGN connection and leave it there for a minute or two. Two minutes of over charging should not hurt anything. Monitor the battery voltage, it might jump up to 16, but after a minute or so it should drop back to mid-14's.
Let us know what happens. I think we are in the home stretch getting you a charging system.

 

[Jimmyb33]

First off, I wantg to thank everyone who replied to this thread to help me out! I've said it before but I'll say it again... I couldn't have got this far without all of the help.

Now... to continue the saga....
Today I wan putting on the fuel bowl and o-rings I just got from Rick Wallace.. (Thanks Rick!). After I got thiat done, I decided to change the oil in the front axle case.. (been planning on doing that for a while.) while the oil was draining, I was looking at the cluster mess of wires I had by the oil dipstick.... something caught my eye.... half burried in the mess of wires was a 4 wire connection not sonnected to anything. I looked at it a little closer and it had a white/green wire, a black wire, and a white/blue wire going to it.... just like the one John posted back in post #18. I want to the garage and began checking the voltage on them. 12v on the white/green! I now figure the previous owner bought a new alternator and it had a 3 wire connection vs the factory 4 wire connection. He must have got this other regulator and tried to get it working and gave up.

So, I yanked off the 4 wire connector and but new push on connectors on each wire. I hooked them up to the alternator how I thought I remembered the were in John's picture.... (my memory was wrong, but I'll get to that in a seccond) I tested the voltage at 1600RPM.

Alternator:
Battery connection = 14.25V
"F" (green/white wire) = 11.3V
"N" (black wire) = 2.52V
"E" (white/blue wire) = -.09V

Battery = 13.23V

I thought those numbers sounded pretty good... I was pretty excited, then I realized the alt light was still on on the dash... bummer!

I took a break and came in to chech John's post again.. looks like I had the "N" and "E" reversed. So here's what I have now at 1600RMP:

Alternator:
Battery connection = 16.00V
"F" (green/white wire) = 11.5V
"N" (white/blue wire) = -0.1V
"E" (black wire) = 8.02V

Battery = 13.72V

And the Alt light is OFF!!!

How does all this look? I let it run at 1600RPM for several minuets and the numbers stayed pretty consistant. I thought 16V at the alternator was too much?

Thanks!
jb

 

[Jimmyb33]

Alternator:
Battery connection = 16.00V
"F" (green/white wire) = 11.5V
"N" (white/blue wire) = -0.1V
"E" (black wire) = 8.02V

Battery = 13.72V

Can anyone verrify if these voltage readings look to be in the right area? I'm kinda affraid to run my tractor too long until I hear from someone who knows.

Thanks!

jb

 

[IXLR8]

Hi Jimmy,
I don't remember what the voltages should look like. It has been 30 years since I did much charging system troubleshooting and the gray cells are a bit rusty. I would not worry about the 16.0 volts at the B connection at the alternator, the key I think is the 13.7 volts at the battery. That number is okay. I find it strange there is 16.0 V at the alternator, but only 13.7 at the battery. Where are you loosing the 2.3 V between the two? It should be basically a direct connection. Sounds to me like there is a poor connection somewhere that is going to get hot over time and that could be an issue. I would be looking for that poor connection. I suspect the voltage at the "F" connection is normal, I have no idea on the N or E connection. My first inclination is the E connection is ground and would be 0.0, but I don't know enough about how the regulator/alternator is actually setup.
From here, How easy is it to hook the meter to the battery and just leave it there while you are running it? As long as the voltage stays below 14.0v, at the battery, I would not worry too much about it. If it gets above 14.5 V at the battery and I think you are starting to ask for trouble, such as boiling battery dry.

I did a quick Google search, here are some sites to check out.
Starting & Charging System Troubleshooting
http://www.prestolite.com/literature/tech/alts/TSB-1019_On_Trk_Troubleshooting.pdf
Bosch Alternator Information

HTH

 

[Jimmyb33]

Thanks for the info Jim. I guess next time I use it I'll just get off and check it every once in a while. I really don't have a way to check it while operating. I do some more reading up on this and maybe post in the general parts/repair area and see if I get any bites...

Thanks again for all of your help. I'm better off than I was a couple of weeks ago.

jb

 

[kentrodngun]

Jimmy, sorry for the delay but I just got back from the farm. Moved the machine there for the "mowing" season. I really don't know how to validate each of your readings as I don't have the machine handy BUT I'd check across the battery with a meter with the machine running and see if you get +/- 14.5 volts. If you do, then the battery is receiving the proper charge and that means the charging system (alternator & regulator) are doing their jobs. Keep us posted. Regards, John