Battery Is Not Charging

[mattpatt]

Blas,

It looks like they changed the routing in my car. The wire from the 1-wire alternator went to the left side of the 80 amp fuse (the "fused" post where 5 other wires are attached - they all are routed per your diagram). I've moved this wire to the right side ("unfused" post). The original wire on the unfused post goes to the "+" side of the amp meter (reversed from your diagram). The "-" side of the amp meter goes to the Battery terminal on the starter motor (I removed the fire-wall solenoid). I think this wiring works just as your diagram intends it to work (now that I moved the alternator wire to the un-fused post - I think the factory mis-wired it). Also, since I have my MSD unit powered from the starter motor battery terminal the amp meter reads not only the charging current but also the MSD current - no biggie - just an observation.

Hopefully, this will be of use to others with newer cars. Seems to me that the mis-wire could have lead to extensive damage to the wiring harness in the event of a short.

BTW - I expect to be updating the Optima Battery Charging Current thread this weekend.

Thx for all your help!

Matt