Hi, I'm new to all of this Pinto business, but I'm trying to learn. Anyway, after a hellish journey for 15 hours transporting my 1980 Rallye home I encountered several times that the battery is not being charged, It is not the battery, I have a new tested guaranteed alternator, and it is not the belt.It all looks to be a mess of wires to me, so it might not be grounded, but I don't know where to check. In addition the idle is around 2100 rpm which is quite a bit higher than what I feel like it should be. Could these two things be related? perhaps only a wire or regulator issue? electricity is not my forte so don't be too harsh I don't know the car's history and only have mild experience with a multimeter.My actions so far are as follows:
Step 1 tighten belt, step 2 new battery, step 3 new alternator, step 4 run around screaming "what's wrong?"
Hi RedRallye,
Is this the Rallye that was in Virginia (I think?) that was on ebay a while back?
Anyway, it might be your voltage regulator. I'm not hip to the electronics either, but I had an '82 Capri that had issues and it needed a new VR. I think they're relatively cheap, or they were. Good luck! And welcome!
It was on eBay about a month ago but it was in Indiana since its birth supposedly. I'll get right on that voltage regulator and get back to you guy.
From one Rallye owner to another,welcome.
Alright problem solved thanks to blanketing. I dis and reconnected about every wire, bought a new voltage regulator, stared a the wiring diagram for about an hour (just looking at it seems to solve some problems), disconnected wire brushed and reconnected the ground, and drove around. Sure enough that fixed the no charging.
The idle is still around two thousand, I completely unscrewed the idle screw on the carb, no change either way, the butterfly is not fully closing. I'll just rebuild the carb and see how that does.
Is one of the things from the high idle mechanism of the automatic choke sticking or way out of adjustment?
Sounds like a major vacuum leak.
Mike
RedRallye1980, sounds like your high idle step down is either set wrong or the linkage is binding. Perhaps the previous owner adjusted it to compensate for a vacuum leak as mike stated.
Also check your choke adjustment. Rotating it will adjust how far the throttle blades are allowed to open.