just put a alternator out of a 88 in to my 85 and it charged for a bit then just stoped charging did the same thing on the original alternater too. Why? When we got the car it came with a flip switch and a push-button start and the other day I installed the ignition out of an 81. Now my guage lights don't work, and it sometimes won't shut the car off even though the key turns the ignition to off and comes out.

 

bump

 

Recheck your wiring. Download the 85 FSM, it can be found in the stickies. Either the 81 switch is incompatable with the 85 harness, you missed a connector, or the previous owner fubared the wiring. I'm leaning towards the 3rd option, just because of the push button start.

 

ok what about the charging