gadberry Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 Happy thanksgiving all and hope those of you with snow have a chance to play, and post pics for the rest of us to drool over... Anyway, I'm chasing a charging gremlin and may have determined my last required part thru the process of elimination but thought I'd Check here. I had a flickering charge light a few weeks ago and the autoparts check resulted in mixed results.. 1 vote alternator and 1 vote voltage regulator so I instAlled the $30 mexican reman alternator.. As I was driving down state yesterday I stopped for gas and ole reliable's battery was dead when I tried to recrank. Gotta small push from a large stranger and was off to "wal-marts" for a battery. At this point my charge light was giving a single flash with long pauses mAybe 45secs betwen flashes and the Alternator was pumping out about 13-13.5 volts btw. I haven't recheckex the belt since my new Alt and belt was installed After the new battery was installed, several dash lights lit up the first time I cranked it, but immediately went off after started.. However, I still have the single, intermittent charge light flash occuring. So is it time to order the voltage regulator? I think so but am I missing something other thN checking belt tension? I did make it to my destination and didn't get stranded, so my pointer and I thank that stranger in Rudy, arkAnsas and those new lifted Subaru fans I met at the clarksville Wally world Any tips/suggestions for this 1981. GL wagon EA81 would be appreciated Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 25, 2010 Share Posted November 25, 2010 Yep - bad regulator. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doobieryan Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Im pretty sure the voltage regulator is in the alternator. So get a Bosch reman and that will Prolly work better for ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 The voltage regulator is EXTERNAL to the alternator up till 1982. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subeast-EA81 Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 If the Alternator is good and the battery is too, i would be checking ground straps, a loose ground can cause a whole bunch of strange problems. Check the battery to block ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadberry Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 I believe I'm experiencing an intermittent bad battery ground and/or a short from the battery... I experienced another temporary 'black out' saturday while I was parked (believe it or not) in a wal-mart parking lot.. (btw- I swear I don't spend all of my spare time at those places!). This time the battery was known good and tested out at 12.87 volts so I removed the battery connections and un-tangled the Positive cable (thanks wal-mart's tire/lube fellas) and after I had tightened both connections, she fired right up and drove fine for the next 130miles, other than the occasional flash from the charge light PLUS the tachometer would periodically 'dance' around and jump up to 6k rather erratically. At the point the tach was acting up I was running interstate speeds with the lights on and although the voltage initially dropped down to @12.5v with the lights on, it slowly worked it's way up to around 14-14.2volts with the lights on; indicated on the dash gauge. So I may have just a bad ground, or I have a voltage regulator on it's way out AND a bad battery connection/ground wire. I left the vehicle at my mom's but the next time I go to pick it up, I plan to have a new voltage regulator (possibly a new COIL) in hand just in case I need it.. The voltage regulator isn't in stock anywhere in middle america, as far as I can tell... I'll keep ya posted on the progress; but it's gonna be a week or two before I get back down to the car.. thanks very much for your help/input! gadberry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gadberry Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Update on flashing charge light * voltage regulator was replaced and still have an intermittent bouncy voltage gauge with an occassional charge light flicker.. . So I guess I'll install the cheapest part (batt. grnd) last and hopefully put this gremlin to bed.. I have a new negative battery ground in hand but the ground bolt felt as though it was tightening as I loosened it so thought I'd wait til had it home before I stripped it to hel 5 hrs from home.... the good news is I found and tightened a loose engine mount bolt, so who knows how long that's been loose. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.