Voltage Regulator Problem, 1974 620

[decoy12]

Hey everyone,

 

I had a problem in the past with the voltage regulator that kept going out. After replacing it several times, I found out the alternator was the culprit and finally ended up replacing both.

 

Everything was good until this afternoon when I pulled up to a stop light, the charge light came on. I thought that their of them might have gone bad again, however upon acceleration the light turned off. So now I thought perhaps the belt was loose, but when I checked it and it was good.

 

Has this ever happened to anyone, and could you suggest a remedy? I know nothing about electrical, so please be easy on me. Again, the light comes on at idle/slowing down and turns off on acceleration (I don't know the RPM, but its when I have to shift to 2nd that it turns off). Come to think about it, I hear a popping/clicking coming from presumably the voltage regulator as I am slowing down/light turns on.

 

Thanks Ratsun! :)

[converted_to_datsun]

Well if you take your truck to a auto zone or an orileys they'll hook up to your car and test the alt and regulator and can tell you if one is bad. Could also be a bad battery not holding charge, which you can also take in to be charged and tested and they can tell you if it's bad or not. Oh and they do all that testing for free too lol. Good luck dude

[decoy12]

Thanks for the suggestion! I will take it to have it tested tomorrow. I had it tested before when the first problem arose, and they kept telling me it was the voltage regulator going bad (replaced it 3 times), when in fact it was the alternator frying it. Instead of going to autozone, I will try O'Reilly and see what they say. The battery is the one it came with when purchased, so it has not been replaced.

[converted_to_datsun]

I'd definately start with testing the battery then, I've heard a bad battery can also cuase alts and regulators to go bad too

[decoy12]

You're right, with cars as old as these it might be the problem. I will post an update after I visit them and hopefully they can tell me what is wrong with it. Thanks again!

 

Edit: Took it to autozone, they said it was a bad voltage regulator. I drove it home, took out the alternator and took it back to have it tested by itself. Turns out it was a bad alternator (got it in January) and they replaced it with another since its under warranty. I put it back together, turned it on, and now the charge light is off... hopefully for good :thumbup: Thanks again for your advice CTD!

[Beer Snob]

Having similar probs myself...A thought... When i was going to swap out alternators the wires going to the T-plug fell off in my hand after fixing the plug I had to cut back the factory wiring harness about 6 inches to find good copper. I have yet to isolate the orig. problem but fixing some of the rotten wire changed the voltage readings. I have seen rotten pos/neg battery terminals themselfs do some tripy ass shit as far as simple ignition functions go. Im also not a electrical expert in autos, but have learned that these old rigs have old wire., and if current isint flowing with ease, then sometimes rotten wire itself can hold back the amount of voltage that needs to get  to were its going. Shucks told me my volt./reg was bad in my 84 toy, but after installing 2 new ones in front of them thats what there tester still said. With a brand new alt and brand new reg., wiring seems to be the only thing left? Right ? Just a thought. Good Luck Bro