last spring i put an 87 toyota tercel alternator on my studebaker, and it worked flawlessly until about a month ago. its still working well, but sometimes, especially when the car is cold, it pegs the crap out of the amp meter and lights and dash lights get super bright and if the compressor is on, it starts pumping really hard. Its kinda nice, but i know its probably not good. the alternator is internally regulated, but has prongs in the back where all the wires attatch. is there anyway to check the regulator? if its bad, the alternator has a lifetime warranty...but i don't want to go through the hassel of making it look like i didn't modify it if thats not the problem. any ideas? thanks, Jake
Sounds like something is causing it to alternately go "full field." My roadster did this once, and it didn't take too long at all to kill the battery. Much as I am one to ignore minor defects, I think getting it fixed asap is the recommended course of action.
First, check the wiring to make sure all connections are good. Check the grounds. You DO have a ground from the body to the engine, don't you?? Paint can really affect grounding. Then, I would swap out the regulator. Seeing as how the alternator is still putting out amps, and the fault is with how many amps, it looks like a regulator problem to me. AFAIK, there is no easy way to check a regulator. Cosmo
You're overcharging...can cause the battery melt. Sounds like a regulator problem...but can be caused by a bad ground or connection. I've been dealing with charging system problems for nearly a month on my daily...my voltage regulator is in the PCM, so it's not so cheap, but I bypassed it and ran an external regulator straight to the alternator and to a relay today... I think I'm overcharging as well, but I'm not sure yet, guess I'll find out tomorrow... Good luck...elec grimlins are the WORST!
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