voltage regulator problem?

[Joe T.]

66 327 recent rebuild and new voltage regulator(among many other things). Car starts perfectly, then when warm sometimes wont turn over with what sounds like lack of battery charge, then when jump starting warm there is a great deal of sparking and even flame at terminal. When car is cold it restarts nicely without recharging battery. With car running my mechanic measured charge going into battery and said it was way too high indicating faulty voltage reg. This makes sense to me, does this make sense to those more experienced than I am. What would be the danger of running car with this situation?( New voltage regulator ordered). thanks Joe

[Donald T.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

Joe,

If the VR is putting out too much voltage, then it can easily be adjusted. The adjustment procedure is outlined in the service manaul, and is pretty straightforward.

[Roy B.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

95% of the time when a car is hot and hard to start is usually a bad ground some where or a bad connection,

[John H.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

What would be the danger of running car with this situation?( New voltage regulator ordered). thanks Joe

Joe -

Excessive charging voltage for an extended period = fried battery.

[Jack H.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

And...while rare...overcharging a battery for extended periods of time can result in excess hydrogen gas build up inside the battery with the battery's case 'exploding'. That's a messy proposition with battery acid going every which a way!

[Joe T.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

that is what my mechanic told me, glad it never happened!

[Ray G.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

Hello Joe;

Also when connecting jumper cables;
Connect the dead battery positive cable first, then charging battery positive cable.
Next connect the negative dead battery vehicles jumper cable, then the charging battery negative cable.

The negative cable ends do NOT need to be connected to the battery. Any good ground, like the exhaust manifolds, will work. If you use this method and the polarity is incorrect, no arcing (and possible explosion) will occur.

Be very careful about polarity. It is easy, especially on our Corvettes, to get the polarity incorrect and cause arcing.

Hope this helps.
Ray

[Rick S.]

Re: voltage regulator problem?

Joe,
As Roy has suggested, check your grounds,including at the voltage regulator.
Rick