Hey guys and gals. I am in the process of starting my engine for the first time in my '71 Challenger and I have two questions. It is not the original 383 and it probably hasn't been started in over 10 years. The wiring in the engine compartment is a mess. There was some stuff missing and what is there is spliced and hacked together. A while back I started with the factory wiring diagram to fix it.
My first question is this:
Referencing this drawing below, the #22 wire from the bulkhead connector is a brown wire which hits one side of the ballast resistor and then continues as a black wire to the + terminal on the coil, and the #23 wire from the bulkhead connector is a blue wire which branches out and hits the other side of the ballast resistor, one terminal of the voltage regulator, and one of the two "field" terminals on the alternator. Which wire is the "run" circuit and which is the "start" circuit? Is the brown wire the "start" and the blue wire the "run?"
factory wiring diagram The reason I ask this is because I decided to install the mopar electronic ignition distributor and ECU and the directions say that I need to hook up the blue and brown wires to specific terminals on the new ballast resistor and ECU.
My second question is this:
I bought a Duralast 65A alternator (#DL7509DP) and it has two "field" terminals. As shown on the factory wiring diagram, the blue wire hits one of the field terminals directly, and then coming off of the second terminal of the voltage regulator with this wire it hits the second field terminal.
The wiring diagram supplied with the electronic ignition ECU does not explain what to with the alternator. I assume that the #23 blue wire from the bulkhead connector still goes to one of the two field terminals on the alternator, but now the voltage regulator (which had a wire going to the other field terminal) is replace with the with the ECU which doesn't appear to have a wire that goes to the second field terminal on the alternator. So my question is, does the alternator only need the one blue #23 wire connected to the field terminal and does it matter which one of the two terminals I connect it to?
I hope all this makes sense and I appreciate any help!
Kyle