b2200 - stops charging when clutch is pushed in?

Hello,

My 88 mazda b2200 stops charging when i push the clutch in (goes down to 10v-11v), when i let the clutch out it starts charging again (goes back up to 14v+), any ideas? i'm stumped on this one - lol... i WAS having a problem of it not charging at all, unless i revved it up one good time it'd start charging, but then drop off...

i checked the black w/white strip on the alt plug, had 12v with the key on, but when started it showed nothing... so i spliced into that wire and ran directly to the + batt... it would throw sparks (telling me it was getting a ground for some reason!)... then i just cut that black w/white wire and ran a + directly to the alt plug... now it charges like it should, except for when the clutch is pressed down...

anyone have any ideas on what would cause it to stop when the clutch is pressed down?

Thank you in advance for your responses...

Jason

dont think the clutch would have anything at all to do with what the atl is doing, weather its pressed in or not. sounds like the alt maybe giving up the ghost.

maybe the clutch pedal is catching on some wiring behind the dash

i didn't think the clutch pedal would have anything to do with it either, which is why i was stumped on this particular problem! lol, and that is a possibility chitobeach, i was thinking the same thing... but it started sleeting earlier here, so i gave up on messing with the truck... i have 6 mazda trucks, plus 10 other vehicles... this one is just an extra "toy" for now, so i'm in no hurry... but i would like to figure it out! maybe if it stops sleeting/snowing i'll take another look at it tomorrow...

Jason

damn.... you got a used car lot or something?

definately a short somewhere under there. there is actually a good bit of wiring around there, including the pedal mechanism, it a bit of work but I would start there.

You have a wire that is deteriorated or a bad connection that is being opened when the clutch is disengaged. It is definitely a problem under the dash, and because of that, it will be a pain to deal with. On the other hand it shouldn't be too hard to find. There are only a couple of wires coming down from behind the cluster that are involved with the charging system. They are both heavy gauge wires in comparison to the others in the harness. The connector behind the gauge cluster that houses both wires is a good place to start. Remove your gauges and press down on the clutch and look for obvious movement at that connection, or you can just try pulling on the wires on both sides and see if they pop loose. If you have a DVOM then that makes it a lot easier to find the open. The good news is there is no short so you don't have to keep replacing fuses until you find the problem. If you don't have a DVOM then you may even want to go buy one. They aren't that expensive and they are worth every penny when you are tracking down problems like this one. Let me know if you need anymore help and I will do what I can from here. -Ed