boy do I have a doozy for ya...

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Hyperballsmcgee

Hyperballsmcgee

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IF YOU DONT WANT TO READ THE WHOLE STORY SKIP TO THE BOTTOM.

alright, everyone knows electrical issues can cause some pretty strange things to happen, but this is something I've never heard of.

okay, so I start the ol' scamp at my lady's house about 1/4 choke cause it's freakin freezing, after 5 or 10 minutes I roll out, hop on I-24 and head on home. about a mile and a half away from my exit she sounds sick. sounded like a miss or something, just put new plug wires on and they're my first ever set of angle boots so I'm thinkin maybe one has come off somehow. check them and number 3 cylinder felt different than the rest and I felt it click on the plug.

so gave it some throttle, nope. didn't change a thing. also noticed volt gauge staying at 12 volts even at throttle then dropping to 10-ish.

I check the dizzy, the battery, every bit of wire and connections I can get my hands to and still... nothing.

at this point the car just sounds PISSED OFF. I mean sputtering, bucking, shaking, backfiring. so I kill it.

now I see my lovely choke cable still pulled 1/4 out. push it in, start it up and boom. volt gage goes to 18 under throttle and no backfires misses sputters or nothing.
sounds like a dream, purring like a baby puss cat.


I know a lot are probably saying "duh, choke was pulled, too much gas, not enough air." well yes, but the volt gauge thing; I wanted to save the kicker for last, when I was going through the wiring under the hood, I came to the voltage regulator, and notice what I thought at first to be antifreeze below it. but no, I went to wipe it off and it was thick and sticky like tree sap or molasses, follow the trail and it appears that this mystery funk is being discharged from the voltage regulator.

-what is it?
-why did this happen?
-why did correcting the choke solve everything?
-why is it putting out 18 volts at throttle now? seems awful high for a 12v battery.

for those who skipped the long read, GREEN GOO COMING FROM INSIDE VOLTAGE REGULATOR. WHAT IN THE HECK IS IT?
 
Is it coming from Voltage Reg or the ECU. ECU has thick jelly-like **** in em. i would say in either case that it is shot, which would explain 18V
 
4spdragtop said:
Is it coming from Voltage Reg or the ECU. ECU has thick jelly-like **** in em. i would say in either case that it is shot, which would explain 18V
Click to expand...

Yep
They are two separate issue's also.
One had nothing to do with the other, just so you know.
 
4spdragtop said:
Is it coming from Voltage Reg or the ECU. ECU has thick jelly-like **** in em. i would say in either case that it is shot, which would explain 18V
Click to expand...

it's coming from the box right next the alternator with the wires that plug into the alt.

also, why didn't it act up when I opened the choke? was this a combination of problems?
 
weird. that box ain't even a year old though. could heat from the headers cause it to fail? what are some common reasons for failure of it?
 
A lot of the electronic voltage regulators (vr125 IIRC) have a resin potting material on the back side. My guess is either the alternator or regulator went south and caused the voltage regulator to get hot and melt the resin out of the back. Easy enough to check, just unbolt and look at the backside.
 
The problem(s) NO pun(s) intended, is that sometimes you can have multiple problems

But the most likely suspect is that the VR failed in such a way as to overcharge, then whatever inside the VR burned open and now it's not charging at all.

Start by checking out the alternator brushes

The alternator field connections should show a low reading, say, 5 ohms or so, between the two terminals. This is with the wire connectors disconnected.

Either terminal to ground should show "infinity" or "open."

Check your harness down to the alternator for shorts. The blue "push on" connector should show power with the key on, and the green goes up to one terminal of the regulator connector. That green should not show continuity to ground when disconnected from both alternator field and the regulator.

Make absolutely certain the new regulator is grounded. Clean the mounting and mount with star washers.

Inspect the regulator connector for corrosion or other damage, and 'work' it on / off the regulator several times to scrub the terminals and to feel for tightness.

Hook up the new VR and see if it charges. With battery "back up" and "normal" and with engine warm, voltage should run 13.8......14.2 when measured at the battery with a decent multimeter. Do not depend on your dash meter. IN so case, at fast idle, should voltage be below 13.5, nor should it be above 14.5

If it is ABOVE voltage, you most likely either have a poor ground from battery to regulator, or you have voltage drop in the ignition harness, a very very common problem.

Clip one lead of your meter to the blue wire connection at the alternator field. Don't unhook from the alternator, rather, "back probe" the connection. Clip the other lead to battery positive, such as the starter relay bat. stud.

Turn the key to run. You are hoping for a very low reading, the LOWER the better. More than .3V (three tenths of one volt) means you have voltage drop in the harness.

If you have factory wiring, the circuit path is from battery ....to starter relay stud...through fuse link.....through bulkhead.....to ammeter....through ammeter....out ammeter....to ignition switch connector....through switch....out switch connector on "ignition run" wire....back out bulkhead.....to ignition loads under hood

Every single one of these connections is suspect, and it might be a combo of more than one. Your most likely suspects are the bulkhead connector (twice) the ignition switch connector (twice) and the switch itself. Last suspects on the list are the ammeter itself, the connections at the ammeter, and what is called the 'welded factory splice'
 
I am going to take a leap if faith, and believe that it is related to the manual choke. There are only two things the choke cable could do. It could serve to ground the engine in a poor way if the engine ground to fire wall connection is broke or loose. It could also short to ground the ignition feed wire that also serves as the reference voltage for the voltage regulator. If the voltage regulator see a low votage from either case, it provides more field current to regulate, hence higher voltage at battery. 18v at battery, is very bad, and could result in explosion of hydrogen gas. In either case the choke cable is a poor conductor, so the car continues to run, in a poor way. It is also possible the issue has damaged both the regulator and battery.

Since I doubt the car came with a manual choke, check the routing. And look for engine to fire wall strap. Also check all 67Dart273 suggests.
 
The material is called jell coat. it seals the electronics. It also melts and oozes out if it gets hot enough. Seen this several times over the years.
I could tell you a story about jell coat failure on antilock brake processors and brand new Cadillac's going up in flames at dealerships. I can't repeat things I'm not supposed to know. sorry
 
YEA...... the last time I lost a voltage regulator it was the old school pre 70 analog what ever they were. Hit the gas and the head lights made it look like day light outside right before both of them blew! Lots of things happen without proper voltage regulation, non of them are good. Russ
 
I have my ammeter bypassed it was shorting out around September, so I just spliced the two wires together.

also, when I put my headers on it doesn't want to start with the key. like it loses power to the dizzy or something. but if I bride the solenoid with a screwdriver or coin it fires right up.
 
Follow 67dart273's procedure.
It does sound like an alternator problem that fried your regulator.
Also as was suggested check your body to engine grounding points and wires.

Bad grounding can cause weird problems.

The choke problem most likely not related.
 
Hyperballsmcgee said:
I have my ammeter bypassed it was shorting out around September, so I just spliced the two wires together.
Click to expand...

There is a difference between a short circuit and a loose or open connection. If you spliced wires that is a fix for an open connection. Repairing insulation or separating a power wire that has contacted ground or another wire, is a way of fixing a short. A short is something conducting electricity in an undesired way to ground or another circuit.
 
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