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1938 Buick overcharging


Guest Jay Jensen

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Guest Jay Jensen

Help....I'm beating my head against the wall on this one. Got a 1938 Buick Special that now is having issues with overcharging. My first indication was the amp gauge was fully pegged on "charge". Checking battery voltage with the car fully warmed up and at 1500 rpm, I'm getting around 9 volts. I've replaced the regulator and the generator (and, yes....I polarized it). Absolutely no change. I disconnected the field wire from the generator to see if the charging voltage would drop but no avail. Battery is only two years old and checks out at 6.2 volts when the car is shut off. I'm at a total loss as what to do next

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Jay,

Welcome to the AACA Discussion Forums. I have moved your post to the Buick - Pre War forum. You are more likely to find an expert answer to your question here.

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Last post before the upgrade!

Jay: Do you have a shop manual for the car? They give a pretty good rundown of checking and adjusting the charging system. I agree that 9V is too high. What happens when you slow the idle down, like to 400 rpm or lower? Do you see it drop to zero as the cutout opens?

Cheers, Dave

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I am not certain, but I think on that gen. grounding the field causes maximum charging. Try removing the field wire at the gen. If it still charges max you have a short in the gen. If not, there is a short in the wiring

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Guest Jay Jensen

Thanks for the replies....I admit I'm a newbie here. Anyhow....here's the latest. I can confortably say that neither the generator or the regulator is at fault as working replacements were installed and there was no change in the charging issues. I will note that if you show the RPM's down, it will get to a point where the charge indicator in the car will suddenly drop to "D". I'm guessing I have a short somewhere on the charging side of the circuit....unless someone out there has a better idea??

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Guest Jay Jensen

Jay,

Welcome to the AACA Discussion Forums. I have moved your post to the Buick - Pre War forum. You are more likely to find an expert answer to your question here.

Thanks.....

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