ColdScrip Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 (edited) Car was fine 2 years after a restore. I would notice the volt meter would bounce a lot but not too bad. (Clock light would flicker). Come recently my car stopped dead due to a dead battery. I replaced the alternator with a remanned one from autozone even though it tested okay. The bearings sounded kind of rough though. The battery tested okay as well. I also cleaned the negative battery cable grounds to the body and engine. I took apart the fusible links connector to sand each prong. I sanded as best I could the fusible link connectors themselves. I also cleaned the main black fusible link and the associated other connectors that lead to the positive terminal there. With these changes I do not see the meter bounce around anywhere near as much a sbefore and the clock light only flickers when the turn signals are on. At idle while cold the car reads ~13.7v. When driving home today I noticed that the gauge would read ~12v at times particularly while at idle. This is with headlights on. I got nervous a couple of times seeing the needle go below 12 (half) with the turn signals on but I knew that was a common thing. When I got home I did a load test. Headlights, stereo, and blower motor on high. I took a volt meter to the battery itself and it read 12.07v. Is it really normal to have ~12v with everything electrical on or do I still have a charging problem? Thanks. Edited October 21, 2015 by ColdScrip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 Does it increase voltage as soon as the RPM's get increased? If so I would think it's normal. Dad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 87 Shetland, battery 12.3V started engine fast idle cold 14.3V , turn headlights/ fog and ac on 12.7 fast idle cold, Now at operating temp Idle with all 3 on 11.86V raise RPm to 2500 and volts increase to 12.3V, turn all off and hot idle voltage is 12.8V Dad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evoz17 Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 11.86 seems too low. But it seems that my car also is at 12v-12.5 at idle with all lights on. Rev to 2500 rpm 13.5v. Hmm guess I will not worry about then. It must be the age on the wiring. I also have done the charging harness with heavier gauge wire. It helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted October 21, 2015 Report Share Posted October 21, 2015 clean all these connections http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/Professor-Quest123/Batt%20Pos/BP-276.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdScrip Posted October 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 While at a stop light I revved the car a little to see what would happen with the volts. ~2k rpm. My volt gauge went above 16v. wt..... From then on if the RPMs were above 2k, the gauge would peg to the top and every light in the car including headlights were as bright as I have ever seen them. I had to have headlights on, blower motor on high, and the radio on to help regulate it back down and not damage anything. I need to reproduce the issue tomorrow morning with a volt meter on the battery to verify its 16+v. Then its either the regulator in the alt or the signal wire. I am assuming its the alt as if its the signal wire then why the ~11.8-12v at idle when hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted October 22, 2015 Report Share Posted October 22, 2015 Voltage regulator in alt is shot. That's what mine did when it went bad. Get the alt tested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdScrip Posted October 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 1 week old autozone alt tested bad while on the tester for about half a second. Waiting on yet another to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vbrad511 Posted October 25, 2015 Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 Just upgrade to either the Hyundai alt, or the GM alt. Or have a stock SQ alt rebuilt by a mom-n-pop shop. The chain stores use the cheapest vendors they can find to reman their products. I've had several AZ alts fail over the years in record time. They'll only ever get me to buy another if I'm absolutely desparate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edde Posted October 25, 2015 Report Share Posted October 25, 2015 I moved on to the GM alt because my local shop Arlington Armature in business since 1947 sold me 3 in a row rebuilt units that failed due to - their words - crappy parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
importwarrior Posted October 26, 2015 Report Share Posted October 26, 2015 this is the alt that seems to be used by a lot of people on here. 100 AMP $93.95 free shippinghttp://www.ebay.com/...D-/121324436893 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrngwae Posted October 26, 2015 Report Share Posted October 26, 2015 I had very similar issues with flickering lights and basically the same symptoms as you... GM alt fixed it right up. This is what i got.http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/proform-100-new-chrome-alternator-gm-1973-86-internal-regulator-66445n/22740125-P?searchTerm=chrome+alternator one wire,,,, easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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