OregonYeti Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My '87 GL had the voltage regulator go out. I replaced the alternator and it's fine now. I was just wondering if this is a common thing. Fortunately for me, there is a voltmeter in the dash, and I saw it go way up, and then my heat/ac blower died. Without that voltmeter I would probably be replacing parts for a while before I figured out what was up. I searched previous posts and only saw occasional mention of voltage regulators, and I was wondering if a lot of people have this happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonYeti Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Okay, I found a good previous thread. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=119687 So I understand if this thread gets ignored! However, my car doesn't have anything extra that would use more power. My battery is only a year old. I don't know where the old alternator came from. This one's from Napa, with a 3-year warranty. My car's working fine now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
l75eya Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Yeah, pretty sure whenever an alternator goes, the voltage regulator is usually the culprit. even without the voltmeter, you'd have known eventually that it was your alternator when it finally just bit the dust and your car dies 20 minutes later after the battery drains. haha. Old parts go, just the nature of the beast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonYeti Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 But it only has 226k miles on it ... I thought it came with a 25-year warranty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKghandi Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 My 87 gl10 has that same problem mine still charges but not at idle.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robm Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Another common failure is one of the diodes blowing. The regulator still holds the output to 14 VDC, but there will be a lot of AC on the output as well. And there won't be as much output, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 My 87 gl10 has that same problem mine still charges but not at idle.. I`d be looking at the brushes if I was you and there are no excess voltages or AC.Common problem-cheap fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonYeti Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Was gonna replace the blower motor, but tested resistance and there was some, so the motor's probably ok. (fuse is intact). Tested the plug connecting to it, with blower turned on, no power. There's a relay near the blower and I don't know if it's the blower relay, but it tested ok (resistance anyway) and it wasn't getting power across its coil when the blower was turned on. So I haven't found the problem with the blower yet. I figure it's likely the blower switch on the dash, that's gone out. That doesn't look really simple to replace, if that's the problem (or maybe it is simple?). I'm gonna need the blower to clear the windshield since we're expecting snow, so for now I'm gonna use a cigarette lighter adapter, and connect it to the blower motor, with a fuse (slow blow), and maybe a resistor of some kind. Anybody know how many amps the blower motor draws, approximately? I didn't see it on the motor. Also I noticed the heater's bad, the little tiny resistance heater in with the blower and I might replace that eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 As much as 13 amps on high speed according to the 84 FSM. Sounds a little high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonYeti Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Thanks, naru, I haven't worked with DC much, so I didn't know what to expect. Sounds like I need to put a resistor in the circuit since I'm connecting it to the cigarette lighter. All I need really is to be able do defrost the windshield even if it takes a few minutes. Edited January 15, 2012 by OregonYeti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naru Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Problem w/that is the resistor needs to be very high wattage. Something on the order of 100 watts depending on the resistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonYeti Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Yeah, I know to check the ratings of things. Not sure what all I have, but I will check that for sure. I won't use a resistor that isn't rated for about 200 watts or more. 12V times 15A ... 180W. That's being extra careful since it won't be 15A with a resistor added in. And I thank you for the heads-up. I don't want to have something else be a pain in my butt. Edited January 15, 2012 by OregonYeti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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