364nailhead Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 Hello! The Amperes gauge just started doing this. The manual says it should stay on the charge side. Has anyone encountered this before? Thanks, Richie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves1940Buick56S Posted June 5, 2023 Share Posted June 5, 2023 More info needed. Is this at idle or at a higher rpm? What happens when you turn on the headlights? You should see a slight discharge and then up into the charge area as you increase rpm. Also see if the nature of the full discharge swings changes. You might have an intermittent short somewhere in the wiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
364nailhead Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 The video was while driving around 30 mph. Tonight, I turned the key on. The gauge reacts the same way. With the engine off. Wasn't expecting that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves1940Buick56S Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 Looking like intermittant short. Turn on headlights with the ignition on, engine not running. See if the lights dim at the same time the needle swings to the left. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 (edited) Disconnect and tape the wire from the battery terminal on the voltage regulator. If not shorting then the problem's in the charging system either the generator or voltage regulator. If it is still shorting out then you got your work looking all over the car. Edited June 6, 2023 by old-tank (see edit history) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
364nailhead Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 14 hours ago, Daves1940Buick56S said: Looking like intermittant short. Turn on headlights with the ignition on, engine not running. See if the lights dim at the same time the needle swings to the left. Headlights did not dim with key on, engine not running, and needle moving to the left. Thank you Daves1940Buick56S for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
364nailhead Posted June 6, 2023 Author Share Posted June 6, 2023 11 hours ago, old-tank said: Disconnect and tape the wire from the battery terminal on the voltage regulator. If not shorting then the problem's in the charging system either the generator or voltage regulator. If it is still shorting out then you got your work looking all over the car. Ok, I disconnected the wire from battery terminal to the regulator. Turned key on. The gauge did not move. This is the wierd part. When I connected the positive wire back up to battery, and turned the key on, the gauge doesn't move at all now! Im not sure what happened? But it does not move erratic to the left now! Thank you Old Tank for your reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 If you start it ,it should show probably full charge needle to the right. But at this point it seems that the generator or voltage regulator is defective/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted June 8, 2023 Share Posted June 8, 2023 One of my favorite diagnostic self questions is "How would I make it do that if I wanted it to?". It is a gotta be there job. Are you in the Rochester/Buffalo, New York area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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