charging system
 

What is a good way to test the charging system on my 1772? Last night I disconnected the battery while it was running and connected a voltage meter the cables and it read 0.0.

Real simple. Check your battery voltage with the motor off. Then start the engine, let it run for a minute or two and then recheck it. If it is higher, it is charging. If it's the same, it's not charging. Ideally, the voltage at the battery should read around 14.4 volts with the motor running.

AJ

I tested the voltage with the battery hooked up and engine running and it showed only 12.25 volts. So I disconnected the alternator wires and attached voltage meter to connectors while engine was running and it only showed .02 volts. Then I pulled the alternator off, pulled it apart and cleaned the insides up with some steal wool, mounted it in the vise and spun it with high speed drill. Still no voltage reading but it lit up my test light brighter than I've ever seen it lit. I'm not sure if I'm using proper methods or maybe I'm just missing something, but shouldn't it show voltage on the meter if I mount it in the bench vise and spin it with a drill?

If you had your meter on the DC setting, it would show zero or near zero. Try the AC setting of your meter, as dynamo outputs AC voltage.

Now I got some better readings! Thanks for the quick reply. I will hook everything back up and test it at the battery again now that I cleaned it up. But in case I still get bad reading at battery... What should I look at next?

Got everything put back together. Pulled 13.6 volts at 3/4 throttle, still 12.3 volts at idle. I was hoping for a little more at lower rpm.

Low output at idle seems pretty normal for these. The two diesels I have had were like that. If someone has a fix, I'd love to hear it though.

my 1772 has never charged much if any at idle. But it has never been a problem as it charges just fine when it gets some throttle.