May have discovered my first grimlin

[bkleenfltx]

My alternator went out a couple of weeks ago. Autozone had an original so I ordered it and chose the 60 amp because my car has a/c. so it appeared all was well until yesterday the 12 mile trip to the tire store ....she wouldn't start. So I took the battery from my 67 convertible...put it in the Satellite drove that beauty home.....wheels and teeth was all you could see!!! :headbang:

So I borrow the neighbors volt meter and the first thing I notice is the post on the back of the alternator for the wires going back to the volt regulator is loose. Not the nut to tighten it but the whole post. I don't recall it being loose when I attached the wires back at install. So we check it and getting 13.4 and with rpms 13.7ish. The volts coming out to the battery were back to 13.

So in my mind two things it is not uncommon to get a bad rebuilt part from Autozone or anybody. That is my first guess. the neighbor insist its a bad volt regulator and then he says "well there's NO WAY this will work because the wires are too small" * well I didn't bother to tell him they were built that way and this car has been running 47 years with those tiny wires. Because only his opinion is a good one!

So I'm looking on line at volt regulators and NONE of them look like the old style "block" I see on the firewall. Too many wires and the new one has 1or 2

I'll check the alternator again...if it is good my question is where to find the old style block and what are my alternatives???

 

[mmissile]

Most "auto parts" stores hardly have anything left available that's older than the 90's. I can understand this, as we didn't have model-A or T parts available when I was young. A modern version of the old 2-wire black box is made, just have to search it out at specialty sites. Yesterday, I was working on my car and found several of the old black boxes in a cabinet[both point-type and electronic]. I gotta feeling I'll be needing them with my current issues with over-charging.

 

[bkleenfltx]

Yeah I hear ya. I was just reading your thread. At first I didn't think it was applicable to my issue but 440RR gave such a great dialog. I am pretty sure I'll go back to Autozone and I will bet the alternator is bad. I had the same issue as you with a Mach I just finished. After some tracking it was a bad wire grounding out.

by the way if you are a Slingblade fan the line "see Scooter ya gotta check the simple things first"

LOL always been a favorite for me.

 

[mmissile]

Looking around yesterday, I removed the alternator to have it tested tomorrow. I noticed the field wire contact[male end] was loose on the alternator. I'm just gonna keep tracking stuff down and cleaning ground/contact points.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

High resistance & bad connection could also be your problem.....if the regulator is always on demand because of high resistance you will get a poor reading...
from a electric testing manual....
What Does a Voltage Drop Test Do?
A voltage drop test assesses voltage losses at the battery, alternator and starter.


Conduct a voltage drop test on the battery, alternator and starter. Electrical problems related to excessive voltage drops are more common than you may realize. High or unwanted resistance is one contributing factor that leads to cranking and charging system problems.

High resistance is often caused by one of these four main issues:
- Loose connections
- Corrosion in the cables and wiring
- Improperly sized wiring or cables
- Improperly crimped connectors

A visual inspection of cables and connections doesn’t show what’s going on inside the cables or inside the connections. Voltage drop testing is the only sure method of determining if there’s an adequate delivery path for optimum starting, charging, battery performance, and life.


[video=youtube;XhRPLgH6uZg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhRPLgH6uZg[/video]

 

[bkleenfltx]

good stuff Pops! I'll dive into it after yard work see if I can find any areas.

 

[bkleenfltx]

Okay guys...... from SlingBlade.... "Scooter ....ya see ya gotta check the simple things first"

So I took the wires off the alternator last night checked the post and it was indeed loose. * Note this is not something most of us would check because it is suppose to be tight FROM THE REBUILD process. I tighten the stud...put the wires back on ...snugged those down and when i went to Autozone I had them check it so I would have proof (in case it was bad) it ran 14.2 right on the money. I guess my old school shade tree mechanic method is better than a Baker Hughes 25 year electronics guy opinion .....HUH!!!

Thank you fellas because all the above info is still KEEPER INFORMATION.

 

[miller]

I stopped trusting anything 'rebuilt', unless I do it myself.

Your post is good food for thought!

 

[bkleenfltx]

I stopped trusting anything 'rebuilt', unless I do it myself.

Your post is good food for thought!

Thanks Miller! I'm taking her on a little longer hike Saturday to test my success.