Wiring Questions

I'm attempting rewiring on Lucinda (my 72ish CJ)
1st question...

Currently:
Alternator Wire #1 goes to voltage regulator
#2 goes to ground at voltage regulator
#3 goes to the battery side of solenoid
#4 was connected to the brake switch on the bottom of the master cylinder. This was the #1 reason for rewiring as this wire was smoking and I didn't want to burn down my jeep.

Where is this wire supposed to go??
Voltage regulator only has one connection on each end. One goes to wire #1 and the other goes to the solenoid.

 

Ditch the Motorola alternator and get a Delco way easier to wire than that external regulated relic.

 

'74 diagram here Jeep® 1974 TSM online is the same as a '72 in this area.



C-6 continues through the firewall and to the ignition switch via the alternator light.

The '73 and '74 models are very very similar in wiring and electrical. '72 is almost the same, though the heater controls and maybe some other minor issues that are different. If you get the TSM for 1972, it will have a pictorial rendering of the wiring rather than a diagram (schematic).


The TSM is available from RockAuto on CD-ROM for under $25.

Correct that the Motorola alternators are not great, as alternators go. Apparently the 10SI Delco alternator interferes with the oil filter on these earlier engines, so you will have to deal with that if you change to the Delco.

 

Zactly. The OEM crapola alt is junk.. I replaced it with a Delco 130 Si 3 wire.. Got rid of the volt reg too. Both the OEM alt and reg are trouble spots. I used to carry a spare regulator..

 

Mmm. I understand the enthusiasm for the Delco unitized alternators. However, I would not jump too quickly to the Delco for a '72. The brackets are different for these early engines, and installation may not be as easy as for later engines. Note that the '72 has a unique shorter water pump; brackets and alignment are going to be different from '73, much less '75. A '75 has its own single-year brackets. My '75 appears to have a Motorcraft alternator and regulator, which should not be present until '76. The Motorcraft parts might be a suitable alternative if the Delco is too hard to fit.

The 10SI and kin are great, but I would not assume that such a swap will be easy on this engine.

 

Thanks all. While it may be a future option, my first priority is to get her back on the road (or - off the road)

I have that wiring schematic but what’s confusing me is the regulator only having two wires and they’re accounted for.
This connection must produce voltage as it was powering the tail lights.
Guess for now, unless I can find another schematic I’ll see if it runs when I’m done and test this feed for how much it’s putting out.

I’ll be back for more questions ...
I’ve been gettin about 2 wires an evening figured out.

 

Maybe I don’t have the correct voltage regulator.... ?

 

I don't think you do. A two wire reg is usually an early Chrysler (Dodge) alt reg.
The #4 wire should go to the regulator (the proper one).

 

My 75 was an easy swap.. 304, I only had to machine one OEM brace to a shorter length and re-thread, Wiring was easy. My Motorola would kill the engine if water got anywhere near it. Made water crossings an adventure..

FWIW I haven't looked at any other applications or a 6 popper setup.

 

So I finally got Lucinda all wired back up and running. Thank you to all - especially timgr for the help. Seems you can find several wiring diagrams for the intermediates and they are all slightly different.
I didn’t connect anything to the #4 post in my first pic and everything works fine. I don’t have an alt gauge but it makes sense that goes there as that post is putting out 14 volts.

Another challenge was the turn signals. I really struggled with them as I was convinced I had them wired correctly to the 6 pin connector on the turn switch but they wouldn’t blink. Several hours of checking and rechecking, I discovered the wiring harness I bought had the flasher wired backwards. Switching the hot wire to the X on the flasher and viola!

Overall, I’m happy with the EBay wiring harness. Although it has more wires than this simple system needs (like a dome light) It wasn’t too bad at all for a complete re-wire.

One other thing I did was replaced the connections for the winch. I used some battery post connectors some of the stereo guys use with multiple cable taps. Really cleaned up those connections.