38Buick 80C Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 So below is my gauge. Also noticed my starter engages while driving occasionally. I am thinking voltage regulator, but open to more knowledgeable guessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Swap out the regulator first and if no change, then the generator. I noted a swing from charging to discharging. When discharging the starter relay will find ground through the generator and activate the starter (vacuum start switch on the carb should be the 2nd line defense to prevent this.). Also if the engine rpm are real low like lugging in 3rd gear, the starter will activate when the gas pedal is pushed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 (edited) Just a thought, how old is the battery and have you had it tested? Also are all of the connections from the gen/regulator/battery/ etc. in good shape. Just a basic question of things to check before changing parts. Edited September 8, 2015 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Just a thought, how old is the battery and have you had it tested? Also are all of the connections from the gen/regulator/battery/ etc. in good shape. Just a basic question of things to check before changing parts.The battery is a couple year old Optima. It stays plugged into a battery tender. but direct answer to all your questions is No, but I guess I will now. After the post above I went for a short 5 min ride around the block, never got up past 35, also never got the gauge to read that is was charging either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37_Roadmaster_C Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 (edited) Brian, There are several things that could cause your symptoms. First check all connections and battery ground. Also, check the regulator grounding to the firewall, very important. If good then move on to the regulator. Open it up and check the conracts for wear and/or burning. They can be cleaned and resurfaces with a strip of fine wet-dry sand paper. Just get a strip and fold in half so that you can pull it through the conracts sanding both at tge same time while pushing them firmly closed against the sandpaper. If this does not cure the problem the next thing to try is bypassing the regulator. To do this simply ground the field terminal and the generator will go to full charge. Watch the ampmeter and if it still jumps or shows discharge you have a bad generator, most likely brushes which can be easily replaced. This should be a good start. Let us know and we will help if we can . Robin Edited September 8, 2015 by 37_Roadmaster_C (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 A good while back, it was discovered that what O'Reillys was selling for replacement voltage regulators actually had electronic "guts" in them, but they looked correct for the vehicle. Somebody bought one and looked inside to see what was there and round a circuit board rather than the contact point set-up. Don't recall the brand, but it was a nice things to find. Swapping out the cover for the original would complete the "correct" look. Not sure if that same situation exists today, though. Rather than just "check" connections, especially the battery terminals, I'd recomment "remove, inspect, and touch-up" to ensure that all connections were clean and fresh. On battery terminals especially, a thin layer of "accumulation" can exist between the inside of the cable end and the battery terminal post and everything will still look "good". NTX5467 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Brian, All good suggestions so far. I have a couple of comments to add. 1. when checking your voltage regulator contacts, disconnect the battery first! if you close the cut-out relay contacts with the battery connected, you will fry something. Don't ask how I know this! 2. what regulator do you have? 5-terminal (original); 4-terminal (you have to clip and insulate the redundant 6-volt lead to convert from 5-terminal to 4-terminal); or, 3-terminal? (you should consider a momentary switch to ground for the starter circuit, to provide the critical redundant starter solenoid ground path interruption method that the other regulators used to provide.) This will prevent unwanted starter activations. 3. when I had a similar pulsating charge indicator, it was a short circuit in one of my light circuits. The pulsation was the thermal circuit breaker cutting in and out to protect the wiring. You may want to consider a short circuit on one of the branches that the thermal circuit breaker protects. The appearance at the gage was identical. Jeff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Does your voltage meter reading at the batter indicate charge and is it steady? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Brian, All good suggestions so far. I have a couple of comments to add. 1. when checking your voltage regulator contacts, disconnect the battery first! if you close the cut-out relay contacts with the battery connected, you will fry something. Don't ask how I know this! 2. what regulator do you have? 5-terminal (original); 4-terminal (you have to clip and insulate the redundant 6-volt lead to convert from 5-terminal to 4-terminal); or, 3-terminal? (you should consider a momentary switch to ground for the starter circuit, to provide the critical redundant starter solenoid ground path interruption method that the other regulators used to provide.) This will prevent unwanted starter activations. 3. when I had a similar pulsating charge indicator, it was a short circuit in one of my light circuits. The pulsation was the thermal circuit breaker cutting in and out to protect the wiring. You may want to consider a short circuit on one of the branches that the thermal circuit breaker protects. The appearance at the gage was identical. JeffJeff,It's a 5 terminal VR. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Does your voltage meter reading at the batter indicate charge and is it steady?I need to check this too. Thanks all for the great suggestions. I'll report back once I have time to get in the garage again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 Well tried most all of the above. no luck. BUT talked to Dad and he said just take the cover off with and with the engine running push the armature closed a few times, have someone watching the gauge until it says charge and it will fix itself....and it did. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Very interesting. Glad it is fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Is this similar to, or an alternate method for, polarizing the regulator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 Is this similar to, or an alternate method for, polarizing the regulator?Well I did attempt to polarize the generator via the book methods...with no result... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
37_Roadmaster_C Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Very interesting. Would you ask your dad if he knows what the problem was and how forcing the armature pulse causes the repair? I have a fairly good background in electrical services from automotive type to high voltage distribution and this one has me asking what and how. Anyway, glad it is fixed and reliably on the road. Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Very interesting. Would you ask your dad if he knows what the problem was and how forcing the armature pulse causes the repair? I have a fairly good background in electrical services from automotive type to high voltage distribution and this one has me asking what and how. Anyway, glad it is fixed and reliably on the road. RobinI'm glad it is fixed, but I too don't understand the reasoning behind why that would fix it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted September 19, 2015 Author Share Posted September 19, 2015 So finally caught up with Dad today to ask him why that worked. He basically just said that after re-polarizing things it works and that all he knows. He thinks it something to do with getting the power to "flow the right direction". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy Dave Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 I've done the same thing on many old vehicles and tractors. About half the time it works, If does not, then most often the regulator is bad, or the generator needs work. Dandy Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 On 9/12/2015 at 5:23 PM, 38Buick 80C said: Well tried most all of the above. no luck. BUT talked to Dad and he said just take the cover off with and with the engine running push the armature closed a few times, have someone watching the gauge until it says charge and it will fix itself....and it did. What armature did you close? The one for the cutout? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 On 9/7/2015 at 2:28 PM, old-tank said: Swap out the regulator first and if no change, then the generator. I noted a swing from charging to discharging. When discharging the starter relay will find ground through the generator and activate the starter (vacuum start switch on the carb should be the 2nd line defense to prevent this.). Also if the engine rpm are real low like lugging in 3rd gear, the starter will activate when the gas pedal is pushed. Why would lugging in 3rd gear cause the solenoid to trigger, is it because the vacuum is very low when you do that, and opens the vacuum switch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Yes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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