electrical and ignition Battery not charging. Turn signals not working. Wipers not working.

[jammin808]

I inherited a 72 2002 TII.  It is all custom and I am finding that there are a lot of things that don't work.

 

The battery has been relocated to behind the passenger seat and there is no back seat.  The battery is not charging when driving.  There are three wires that are connected to the alternator.  One was cut.  When I reconnected the one that was cut the alternator made a real high pitch squeal noise when running and was hot.  Once I disconnected the cut wire again, the noise stopped.  Not sure what I am missing.

 

I am unable to get the turn signals to work either.  The hazards work and all other lights work fine.

 

Also the windshield wiper motor doesn't work either.

 

Need help or wiring diagram.

 

I attached pics of alternator.

 

 

 

[Simeon]

Sounds like you need to go back to basics with your charging system. Have a look at this:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/articles.html/_/technical-articles/electrical-and-ignition/the-02-charging-system-r175

I would be prepared for the alternator to be damaged internally. Might be worth while removing it and taking it somewhere to be bench tested. Get the system charging first then we can look at the other issues.

[jammin808]

I traced the wiring last night and noticed that the B+ is going to a solder point that then goes to the starter but never actually goes to the battery.  Can it charge the battery through the starter that the battery is connected to?  The original wiring diagram shows that is should go from alternator to solder point to battery. 

[Simeon]

It will work connected to the main battery terminal on the starter as well as it will connected to the battery (assuming that your battery leads are in good condition with good low resistance connections at each end).

[jammin808]

I am a total newbie. It is a brand new battery and everything is clean. What are low resistance connections. Also the black wire is cut that goes to voltage regulator. When connected is when it makes a high pitch noise. Could the voltage regulatoe be bad?

[Mike Self]

check to make sure the alternator is grounded properly.  There should be a thick brown wire that is connected at one end to the alternator frame (one of the bolts that holds the alternator body together) and the other to a mounting bolt on the engine block.  If the alternator isn't externally grounded with that wire, it's not gonna work properly.  

 

As for the turn signals--the flasher relay works both the turn signals and the 4 way (emergency) flashers, so the relay itself is probably OK.  72 and 73 '02s have the turn signal lever incorporated with the wiper switch--it's the stalk on the right side of the steering column (the left lever is the high/low beam & flasher switch).  So first of all, are you using the correct stalk?  And if you are, the switch itself may need cleaning, repair or replacing.  

 

I did a column of troubleshooting those turn signal switches, so if it turns out that the proper switch isn't working, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you the column.

 

cheers from the Other end of Ohio (Dayton)

mike

[Hans]

wiring diagrams on tii page