It is a bad altenator, but we found another problem...
 

After having the electrical system tested, it was confirmed the the altenator is shot on my 84' n/a. We took it out and are going to have it rebuilt this monday.

Anyway, while taking it out, we noticed that one of the four wires that run to the air flow sensor has been cut. My questions are:

1. What does the air flow sensor do?

2. Why would someone cut the wire to it?

Sometimes I wonder about these previous owners....what the hell are they thinking!?

Thanks guys!

-Tony

In order: 1) it measures the amount of air being drawn into the engine, so the DME (engine control computer) can give the engine the correct amount of fuel. 2)Who Knows!?!

Did the car run rough? I would solder the wires back together, and use shrink tubing to seal the connection from the elements.

Good Luck with it!

I would also test the AFM with the suggested procedures (Specifications) in the Haynes manual. If the temp sensor in the AFM was bad, it could have made the wrong adjustments to the A/F mixture, and that is why the PO could have disconnected (cut) it (cheaper than getting a new AFM) ...

How did you figure that the alternator is shot?

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1984 944

My guess is the wire went to the temp sensor, may cut to fool DME that the air was cold to richen the mixture.

drew1

Except that if the resistance was higher than a preset upper limit, I think the DME would ignore it, so you'd have to replace it with a resistor with something close to the upper limit, rather than cut it, to fool the DME ...

E

Hey thanks for the ideas guys. We're going to hook up the wire and see what happens.

The car needed a state inspection, and while they were at it I had them test the alternator. I droped it off at a rebuild shop this morning and they said that at the low end it could cost 30$-50$, at the high end maybe 150$. A lot cheaper than a 230$ rebuilt one with a 100$ core charge.

Anyway, thanks!

-Tony