Saturn Alternator causing Check Engine Light

[Atuca]

Hey guys, another question on the ever so popular Saturn Alternator swap.

I have wired the saturn alternator in my 2g DSM as follows:


DSM plug DSM wire use Saturn plug
------------ ---------------- ---------------
Red – 12v Constant Source - Connected from switched 12v source to F wire
Black/Yellow – Metering of Voltage - L wire
Green – Pin 41 on the ECU – Voltage Regulator FR - Unused
White – Pin 33 on the ECU – Voltage Regulator G - Unused




Well I recently received a check engine light today:

P1500 Generator FR terminal Circuit malfunction


Funny I should receive that code, because I cut that wire! The FR wire is not used in the saturn alternator swap, even if I used the 3 wire CS plug and tied it into a distribution block (which I do plan on doing for those who care to know).

I would have thought this issue would have been more widespread since this is a very popular mod, but searches on tuners and dsmlink came up with nothing. I heard from the mod snowboarder that there may have been a ECMlink update that allowed this issue to be ignored by the ecu, but if this is untrue, how did you guys solve this issue?

Aside from the check engine light, alternator works great

Thanks for any and all help.

And....... done:

ECMTuning User Support Forums

Originally Posted by dsmraver
Has anyone seen a DTC from this swap on a 2g? I'm getting a "DTC 1500 Generator FR terminal circuit malfunction" on my car when I try to start it.

I got that code as well. If you search, I believe dmertz posted that you can ground one of the unused wires to get rid of that DTC. My car threw it, but it didn't effect anything.

It appears you just need to ground the wire. I still will need to test this theory to confirm, but it appears to be correct if its from dmertz.

For those who are curious, the other pins, Green – Pin 41 and White – Pin 33 go to the ECU and are grounded there when you turn on headlights to prevent the interior lights from getting brighter. Not sure how that works in practice, but now I know in theory.

I blame dial up for my creating of this thread... But at least if someone searches tuners for "check engine light" and "saturn alternator swap", this pops up for them now

 

[turbosax2]

direct_access_changes [ECMTuning - wiki]

 

[da_reeseboy]

Not to resurrect a dead thread, but I had the same issue with my Saturn alternator swap. I have a 2G eprom ecu and changed FF67 from 01 to 00. I am working with EB23E and believe it is the same spot in EB23D, so it will probably be the same in EB23C for anyone that searches for this in the future.

 

[newtodsm97gst]

Back from the grave, did you figure it out by grounding the other wire? I tried from ecmlink but did not work.

 

[isantop]

If you can't figure it out, you might give the Alternator from a 97 Galant (2.4L) a try. Bolts right up, plugs right in, and it's a 90 Amp too.

 

[newtodsm97gst]

Thanks for info but i solved it already, i needed to enter 0 on the alt on link. Thanks.

 

[PrimerPLus]

Any reason why you would want a Saturn alternator over the galant?

 

[newtodsm97gst]

Any reason why you would want a Saturn alternator over the galant?

already purchased the saturn alt and saturn alt was more popular.