Amp meter shows overcharging

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midlifecuda

midlifecuda

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72 Swinger /6. Recently the alterator has been over charging. First it would just do it when the car was first started and then go to normal and now its been getting progressively worse. at idle its fine but as you give it gas it climbs. the alt. looks fairly new and I have done nothing to the car electric wise. I have almost 5000 miles on it since I got it, now 46000 org. miles. Please put the responses in idiot terms since electrical things are my Achilles heel (oh yea, spelling too!)
 
It could be your voltage regulater its a box mounted on the drivers side firewall.. but could be a million other problems too, others will chime in that knows more
 
Mine is just recently doing the same thing. The gauge goes up to +40 at anything above idle. I just changed the regulator to a brand new one and it still says the same. Everything else seems to be ok, I'm starting to think it might be the 36 yr old gauge !
 
Ya when I start mine It goes all the way up then slowly climes down to the middle after that its ok it only does it when startup
 
Duster731, your condition sounds normal to me. When you crank the car over, you're using a large draw (probably the single biggest draw) on the battery and not replenishing the system until the car starts. Once the car starts the system is energized and the voltage regulator will draw a charge for the battery and increase the amperage on the meter. If you have started it normally, the draw will be short lived and level off to it's usual position on the guage, slightly overcharging. If you had a hard time starting the car, like after winter storage or sitting for a while, the meter will stay on the high side of charge longer!!

Sport360...I recently had your problem, and it turned out to be a broken insulator on one of the field terminals inside the alternator. I totally discounted this as a possibility until another FABO member explained the it and lo and behold, a simple alternator change fixed the problem. I had an extra alternator to throw on just to check, but you could take yours to the auto parts store and have it checked before buying anything!!

Midlifecuda...I would suspect your voltage regulator also, and if you had an extra you could easily swap it to see if it fixes your problem. If you don't have an extra and have the $$$ you should have an extra lying around just in case anyway. It may not be the regulator, and if it acts like Sport360's, you could have the same problem as him. Electrical problems arise on original low milage cars maybe more often than driven cars, and a thorough check of your system including ground contact cleanups may be in order!!! Good luck you all, I just finished going through some of this myself!!! Geof
 
Like everyone says, could be lots of things, but try the simple stuff first.

Could be a sign of a failing battery. Borrow another battery if you can and swap it Problem fixed? If not, you need to dig a little deeper. If you have a voltmeter, start by measuring the voltage across the battery terminals and run the car thru the various conditions you described. Post the results and I'm sure you will get some help.
 
Sport360...I recently had your problem, and it turned out to be a broken insulator on one of the field terminals inside the alternator. I totally discounted this as a possibility until another FABO member explained the it and lo and behold, a simple alternator change fixed the problem. I had an extra alternator to throw on just to check, but you could take yours to the auto parts store and have it checked before buying anything!!

I can give it a try, the alternator is brand new but you never know. It figures, I pulled out my volt meter and it doesn't work either :banghead:
 
More than likely your voltage regulator, but check and clean your battery cables and battery terminals. Then check the voltage of your battery with the car off and the doors closed. Watch to see if it's losing voltage. If it is, then disconnect the negative cable and see if it is still losing voltage. If it is then you have a bad battery. If it isn't, then you have something drawing power when it shouldn't. Then the fun begins while you try to hunt the draw down. Good luck with it. Hope it's something simple like the battery or voltage regulator.
 
Sport 360 said:
Sport360...I recently had your problem, and it turned out to be a broken insulator on one of the field terminals inside the alternator. I totally discounted this as a possibility until another FABO member explained the it and lo and behold, a simple alternator change fixed the problem. I had an extra alternator to throw on just to check, but you could take yours to the auto parts store and have it checked before buying anything!!

I can give it a try, the alternator is brand new but you never know. It figures, I pulled out my volt meter and it doesn't work either :banghead:
Click to expand...

OK Sport360, heres the lowdown I got and it made sense...If your alternator is a remanufactured unit, it is very likely that the insulators around the field terminals have not been replaced, as the reman houses usually slap the things together and do not usually concentrate on this area. I found out on my car because it would run fine but anything off idle would peg the meter. Now, if I changed the field wires on the terminals it would kill the car. When I tested the field terminals and wires with a meter, one wire would show voltage and the other would not. Try changing the field wires on the alternator to see what happens, if it still runs and the amp guage acts the same, maybe it's not a cracked insulator, but I'll bet it is!! The reman'd alternators are hit and miss in my book!!! Good luck, Geof
 
cosgig said:
OK Sport360, heres the lowdown I got and it made sense...If your alternator is a remanufactured unit, it is very likely that the insulators around the field terminals have not been replaced, as the reman houses usually slap the things together and do not usually concentrate on this area. I found out on my car because it would run fine but anything off idle would peg the meter. Now, if I changed the field wires on the terminals it would kill the car. When I tested the field terminals and wires with a meter, one wire would show voltage and the other would not. Try changing the field wires on the alternator to see what happens, if it still runs and the amp guage acts the same, maybe it's not a cracked insulator, but I'll bet it is!! The reman'd alternators are hit and miss in my book!!! Good luck, Geof
Click to expand...

OK thanks,
I changed the voltage regulator on Saturday and it made no difference (doesn't hurt, the other one was 36 yr old) The battery is also brand new.
I'll try switching the 2 field wires, I was thinking of doing that bud didn't want to burn it to the ground just yet, I'm not quite that frustrated :help:
 
I would check the battery itself or just change it temporarily if you have another one known good. Mine was bad, I suspected the charging system until I changed the battery and everything returned to normal.
 
midlifecuda said:
72 Swinger /6. Recently the alterator has been over charging. First it would just do it when the car was first started and then go to normal and now its been getting progressively worse. at idle its fine but as you give it gas it climbs. the alt. looks fairly new and I have done nothing to the car electric wise. I have almost 5000 miles on it since I got it, now 46000 org. miles. Please put the responses in idiot terms since electrical things are my Achilles heel (oh yea, spelling too!)
Click to expand...

First try a volt meter on your battery terminals. Should read 14 point something at idle. Voltage regulators are fairly inexpensive and you can replace one for about 14 bucks. When you change it make sure it is grounded good to the firewall (sometimes there is rust build up between the regulator and the firewall) and the two bolts snug. If still overcharging, carefully inspect the two wires coming off the regulator going to the back of the altenator for good connections, breaks, etc.
 
I had a similar problem and I tested the altenator three times the third time it said the diods were bad got another altenator and it fixed it
 
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