I got around to putting my powdercoated casing I had onto my alternator and now it won't charge. I also made sure I buffed off the powdercoat in all the important grounding places before I put things together. I've got continuity between the bolts on the alternator and the engine itself. What could I have missed?

 

Could one of the brushes have stuck and not popped down when you pulled the pin?

 

Agreed....a most likely scenario.

 

i pulled it all back apart, buffed some powder coat off some questionable areas and still nothing. I could hear the brushes "ping" into place when I was pulling out the paper clip.

 

This happened to me also. Looked great but wouldn't charge. Had it rebuilt to ensure everything was fine and it then died two weeks later. It's back at the alternator shop as I type this.

 

The wire, particularly to the third (partially obscured) screw needed for removal of the rear half of the casing wouldn't take alot of flexing/movement before it would break.

 

Well the "no charge" light does not come on at all. Knowing that some alternators will not charge if the light is busted I ran a test bulb to the indicator terminal and still got nothing. If I broke one of the lead wires I'm sure the light would have gone on. Now I'm just at a complete loss.

 

I got it to charge, but only when I put a non powdercoated casing back on. I'm missing a grounding point I need to buff off. But I am at a loss as to what I need to buff off.

 

glad i saw this thread before i powdercoated my casing today.... i curious to as to what not to powdercoat.

 

Duh...that makes sense. Sorry I didn't remember it until just now...mine was powdercoated too but the company that did the powdercoating masked off the inside surface of the casing where it mates with the stator. I also painted the stator, but I masked the 'lip" that mates with the casing.
Again, sorry I didn't remember this earlier, but in doing it that way, I had no issues.

 

I grounded off the powdercoating where it met the stator and I still had no charge. Ground continuity through the stator was there.

 

I just had mine ceramic coated a couple of weeks ago with no issues at all. I took it apart and reassembled myself but I did notice that all the grounding points were not coated. I had mine tested before I but it back in the car just in case.