Charging system S-10

Best you contact the person who helped you via the original post, as they may not pick up on this new thread, who was it?

Mark (mhpautos)

If your alternator is n't charging and a wire was broken, you 'll have two fusible links, one to the power center and another to the battery. Both are 12 gauge blue wires, meaning there wil be larger red ones then they reduce to the smaller blue wires and back to red. Follow your leads see if the links are burnt. If they are replace them and fix the broken wire and it may work. Otherwise take your alternator off and have it checked. Most auto parts stores can do this for free.

Hi mhpautos. I recognize it after shoving two feet of snow around for two hours!

That test proves the light circuit is ok. That's also the turn-on circuit for the voltage regulator. There is either a bad connection in the generator plug, or the voltage regulator is open. You can buy new regulators but disassembling these GM generators is a real hassle. You're better off just replacing the whole generator. Check around on price and warranty. My friend is on the third one for his Malibu. He found one with a two year warranty for around $200.00 and a different one with a five year warranty for considerably less.

You might consider replacing the battery at the same time. It is real common to go through four or more of these generators in the life of the vehicle. What more and more professionals are finding out is they can reduce the number of repeat failures by replacing the perfectly good battery. It might work fine in older pre-1987 GM cars that used the old style generator, but this new style develops a lot of big voltage spikes that interfere with computer sensor signals and they can damage the voltage regulator and the diodes in the generator. As batteries age, they lose their ability to dampen and absorb those spikes.

Caradiodoc

Enjoy the snow, the only cold stuff I ever see is in the back of the freezer. Lol. Mark In sunny Australia.