62 buick gen light on with cold light. alternator car

[bullheimer]

just putting out the obvious that suddenly my green cold light and red gen light came on, which never happened before, on my62 leSabre that the previous owner did an alternator swap on it removing the regulator.

 

i noticed that i had some white corrosion in between my Pos cable terminal and my battery's pos post.  i removed this with a battery post cleaner and viola, lights both went out.   i spent maybe an hour measuring voltage and checking connections here and there first, so save yourself an hour and clean your posts. 

Edited August 11, 2021 by bullheimer (see edit history)

[EmTee]

Also check belt tension...

[drhach]

Gen light and cold light are not related to each other. If the cold light just started working, I would suspect a loose connection somehwere that came on all of a sudden. The Cold light should go off after the engine warms up. Does the gen light stay on after you start the car? Or is it only when you first turn on the key?  

[EmTee]

8 hours ago, drhach said:

Gen light and cold light are not related to each other

 

That was going to be my next question; I surmised that the Cold light was somehow involved (probably unintentionally) in the alternator 'conversion'.

[bullheimer]

I got no idea why but will verify they work independently otherwise

[NTX5467]

GM considers anything that generates electricity, whether "generator" or "alternator", "a generator" . . . in the parts book.  1962 was the first year for the GM aluminum-case alternator as we know them.  FWIW

 

IF the two "lights" are aacent to each other, there should be a thin cardboard "roll" around each bulb, so that only the "filter" for each bulb is illuminated, if one roll falls away or has disintegrated, one light might light-up both filters, or at least have some bleed-over that should not otherwise be there.

 

Just a thought,

NTX5467

[EmTee]

On 10/16/2021 at 9:47 PM, NTX5467 said:

if one roll falls away or has disintegrated, one light might light-up both filters

 

That's certainly a possibility.  The glue used to hold the cardboard 'tube' dries out and shrinks.  Vibration can cause the tube to move (or fall out).

[Bill Stoneberg]

On 10/16/2021 at 8:47 PM, NTX5467 said:

GM considers anything that generates electricity, whether "generator" or "alternator", "a generator" . . . in the parts book.  1962 was the first year for the GM aluminum-case alternator as we know them.  FWIW

 

That explains why my 1980 Coupe de Ville has a generator light.

[EmTee]

20 hours ago, Bill Stoneberg said:

That explains why my 1980 Coupe de Ville has a generator light.

 

Well, that and the age demographic of the typical Cadillac buyer in 1980... 

[Bill Stoneberg]

22 minutes ago, EmTee said:

Well, that and the age demographic of the typical Cadillac buyer in 1980... 

 

Hey now,  I resemble that remark 🙂