High volts
I need to brush up on my Ohms Law..
ha ha...very funny. In any case, I remeasured again this morning... 0.9 ohms...I'll call it poor test.
Ok look, you have to get this down to "the basics" and go from there.
1--There is SOME possibility that the battery itself could cause this, so try a known good battery out of another vehicle temporarily.
2--The regulator itself could be a problem, but you have replaced that.
3A--This leaves the sense voltage
3B--and the ground between the regulator and battery.
YOU MUST CHECK THESE in the following manner!!!
A---To check the sense voltage, Turn the key to run, but with engine OFF. Stab one probe of your meter into the battery POS post, and clip your other probe to as close to the regulator IGN terminal as you can get. Since you are having so much trouble, I'd be tempted to stick a pin through the blue regulator wire in an attempt to eliminate as much as possible.
Again, you want to see LESS than .2V, the less the better.
More voltage means you have a voltage drop problem in the harness. Your top suspects are the regulator connector, the bulkhead connector, the ammeter circuit, the ignition switch connector, and the switch itself. Also check the connections at the coil resistor. That is, the crimps in the connectors
B---To check the ground, get the engine running, the battery charged, and do the following check twice, first with everything in the car shut off (except the engine) and again with heater, lights, etc turned on.
Stab one probe of your meter onto the NEG. battery terminal, and stick the other probe directly onto the mounting flange of the regulator. You should read less than .2V (two tenths of a volt). More voltage means the regulator is not actually grounded to the battery NEG.
1. Tried two different batteries in known good condition...after idle and volts stabilized, no difference... >15V at battery
2. Yup...I'm not replacing it 4 times...these things aren't free and I'm thinking after three, there's something else broke or at least not right.
3A. With key on, engine off voltage loss measured at <TADA!!> 1.1V when probed between (+) battery terminal and IGN voltage measured 1" from VR connector
Key on, engine running voltage was 0.9V...
bulkhead connectors were cleaned yesterday (or the day before, can't recall) and although checking continuity through them is a little difficult, there was no difference before/after with voltage at battery.
Ammeter circuit is bypassed, but voltage from the alternator still passes through the cabin at the original bulkhead connector, and still feeds the fuse block with full voltage (currently >15V). I also installed fuse links inline with that wire so it wouldn't draw too much current through the bulkhead...
The ballast resistor show ~14.5V at the ignition side and ~8.7V on the coil side, and I cleaned the terminals on both sides...I don't know how much resistance is supposed to be there...but it's a carry over from when it had points.
Ignition switch...might be something there...here lately-can't recall exactly when it started, but sometimes when I go to start the car, the relay only clicks and nothing happens. And since you're the 2nd or 3rd person to suggest it may be at fault along with the occasional problem I just mentioned, I might have a bad switch.
3B. See above... 0.9 ohms as measured directly from VR housing to nearby chassis ground (bolt holding ballast resistor)
With engine running and nothing else energized, voltage measured as directed (one probe on batter (-), one on VR housing/mounting flange) was 9 mV or 0.009V
With all high drain stuff on, and stable idle, voltage measured as directed was 27 mV or 0.027V
...I think it's safe to say, the VR is satisfactorily grounded.
So, I might be going after an ignition switch.
