The relay thats on the drivers side floor, inside the car behind the kick panel operates what? Were having an alternator problem and trying to eliminate relays, wires, and such. Is it the heater relay? I know the alt is supposed to run into the heater relay but we dont seem to have any fan problems. Could it be bad and just effect the alt? The alternator is 100% good. Works great in our other 3rd Gen. Does nothing in our 89. The tan/white wire is getting 12 volts while running and the other wires are all showing voltage also. Any ideas? Thanks

 

The relay you are referring to is the starter enable relay.

 

Thanks Dew. Wasnt 100% sure what it was. Does it have any effect on the alternator? Our problem was posted by my wife in a little more detail here https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...k-problem.html. Spent the whole day tracing wires and things. No luck but it was a beautiful day here in Leasburg NC atleast.

 

Is there a fusible link in the power wire from the alt?

 

Yes Tom, theres a fusible link @ the battery going to the alt. and a fusible link @ the starter going to the alt. Both were good though. I checked them with a meter and all were showing 12 volts. In the run position, the tan/white wire was also getting power. Coming off the alternator (the plug in part), theres only 2 wires, a tan/white and a red. Both were getting power in the run position. Ive swapped out almost all the relays that I have. The only ones I havent so far are the starter relay under the dash and the relay that is square on the drivers side fire wall (the one my wife posted a pic of that looked a little toasty). It seems the 89 RS is the only 3rd gen we have here with that square relay. Our other 3rd gens all seem to have an extra round relay instead of the square. This BS is driving us insane. My nephew has to be back at school and Im stuck either fixing his or giving him one of my wifes or mine to use and I really dont want to give a 16 year old boy one of our babies lol. I remember all to well blowing up cars at that age by doing stupid $#!^!!!! lol Today the only thing I can think of to try is switching batteries and Alts again.... I think again. Im hoping when my wife worked on it, she hasnt done that yet. Its worth a try. Were really up against a wall right now with no ideas. I dont want to spend my entire leave working on my nephews car.

 

This is a strange one. The small wire to the alt. plug energizes the field, a small current at startup and its job is finished, the other red wire is the voltage sensing wire, sends the volt reading to the internal regulator to control the output, and the main output wire to the batt/system. Pretty simple setup. It has to work if the alt. is good and getting energized. Is the plug in the back of the alt. correctly? (If all original it can only go one way though) Did you check the voltage at the alt. output terminal?

 

Yeah its a strange one indeed. We switched out the alternator and no change. I know its not the alternator now because it works fine in another 3rd gen we have here as a parts/example car. I know the alternators work but what the %&#@ could be causing the battery not not get a charge. I just know its going to be something stupid like a relay lol. I didnt want to spend 3 days tearing the engine apart and tracing wires. Ive had to just walk away a few times but still stumped on this. Im going out in 15 minutes or so to stare at it again. Ill get a reading off the alternator also like you said. Weve been taking a lot of pics also. Id like to start a thread on relays. ID what they do, where they go, what else they effect, and a real diagram that shows exactly where they are! It seems Im going to become a student of relays and electrical in my present future lol. Im really open for suggestions though lmao

 

When you check the voltage coming off the alternator.....where should you check it at? I put the meter on the big red wire....coming from the battery. Its getting 12.7 volts....of course cause its right off the battery. I took the plug off and tested the both sides. Car running. The plug its self has 12 volts on both the wires.....red and tan/white. The part where the alternator plugs in was dead. No power at all. Is that supposed to be dead and getting its power from the plug? The alternator works fine when we put in in my other Camaro???? I traced the tan/white wire from the alternator to this toasty looking relay. Could this be preventing the alternator from charging? The battery and alternators have both been switched out with ones from a good car yet still have the problem???? What is this relay???? Isnt it the heater/choke relay? None of our other 3rd gens have it. They all use the round ones except this one . Id like to get a new one and pray its the problem but dont want the idiots at AZ to order me another round one or a wrong one completely.

 

Hi

I don't know if this will help, but I hope it does.

 

Thanx bcn... Any diagram is helpful right now. I have about 5 or so that all say 89 RS TBI and all are different lol. The Haynes manual diagram is dreadful. The 1990 model diagram is more like what we have but still not exact. The diagram you showed me is more like ours. None seem to show the tan/white wire going to or through any relays though. My husband thinks it must be a relay were not seeing or something but I dont know really. Most diagrams show the tan/white wire going to the heater fuse. That fuse is fine though. We traced as much as possible without pulling the engine out so we really arent able to see 100% of the tan/white wire. When the ignition is on and the cars running it seems to be getting power but yet the alternator still isnt charging the battery. We popped it in another 3rd Gen and works fine????? This is a nightmare! Ive been searching the web 3 days and we been staring at the wires and tracing but still no clue or any signs of a problem Thanx again bcm and every1

 

Still no luck . It seems that every problem we have is a unique....one of a kind pain in the ****!!! I still dont even know what this square relay is. We did a continuity test on the tan/white wire and it was good. We tested it from the plug at the alternator to the point where it goes into the firewall. When the car is started it has 12 volts on the tan/white wire.....12 on the red plug wire and 12 coming off the battery wire to the alternator. If the alternator is good.....the wires are getting power and the heater fan fuse isnt blown....what else could it be???? Could it be a relay??? Some1 please help be4 I pull my hair out And does any1 know what the square relay to the left is in the pic I attached???? I also attached a pic of the wires that plug in to it.

 

Depending on where these relays are located. If it is on the drivers side on the firewall, it is possible that the relays are fuel and fan.

 

Thats what I was thinking because when its not plugged in.....the car wont start. It is on the drivers side also. I traced the tan/white wire more and found out it goes into the firewall on the passenger side. Like its going into the ecm??? I wonder if something in the ecm blew out??

 

Does the tan/white wire just enter through the firewall on the passenger side and go over to the heater fuse? Im going to find out one way or another. id rather know without taking out the whole dash. Ive done that 100 times before for other things and dont look forward to doing it just to see if the wire goes to the heater fuse directly from the firewall entrance point on the passenger side. Im really hoping it dont tie into the computer at all.

 

Got the alternator charging ....Turns out it was a bad plug and the "F"prong wasnt making a connection. I found out some useful info on the tan/white wire though.....heres the link that explains where it goes and stuff. Thanks for all the help guys. i learned a lot
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...ator-wire.html