I had the generator rebuilt and put two voltage regulators in and the car is still not charging. Wiring at regulator and generator are good. Battery is about a year old and I polarized the generator. Any other obvious areas to look? Could a blown fuse in the fuse box cause the discharge? Car '61 283 FI.
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Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
Larry
How did you polarize gen? Did you polarize redulator? Does it discharge all the time? Have you checked at the battery with a volt meter when the car is running above an idle? Need a little more info
Terry -
Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
In your previous thread on this subject, I told you how to check the generator and how to isolate the problem. Have you done that? What were the results? The charging system on these cars is as simple as you can get. Throwing supposedly new parts at an unidentified problem is a waste of time. Find the problem and fix it.Comment
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Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
Take a voltmeter and put is across the battery see what voltage there is and then start the car and see what it is, it should be around 14volts, this is a quick check, it should be more for a while if its working. Is the guage wired correctly in the dash, I remember your problem but do not remember all the things that were checked. Like Jim said this is a pretty simple system and unless you got a whole bunch of bad parts I think there may be something else going on.
PhilComment
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From the tests the generator appears good after the rebuild. I put two regulators in and still I am running off the battery at 12.5 V. Wiring looks good and I have not touched anything else. I polarized the generator. Is there a separate polarization for the regulator? If so how? I already touched the VR battery terminal to the VR arm terminal.Comment
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Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
Larry, There is no separate polarizing for the regulator. I would charge the battery, it may be the problem, as it may not take a full charge, If it is charged it should be 13+ volts. You can load test the battery, most of the parts supplers have a tester to do that.
PhilComment
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Either it's good or it's not. Which one is it? What were the voltage readings at the gen. with all the wires disconnected at an idle? Voltage at the gen. with the field grounded and increasing the RPM's? Have you checked the continuity of the wires from the gen. to the VR and VR to the battery? These are very simple tests that will show where your problem lies. Follow them or continue to chase your tail. Your choice.Comment
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If you explain the continuity test it would be helpful. I did the tests and that is why I had the generator rebuilt. While the generator was being rebuilt I replaced the regulator because it looked old. How is that chasing my tail? I am looking for solutions here and have tried everything that is being suggested. I did the test after the generator test after the generator was rebuilt and it seemed good that is why I replaced the regulator again. I still have the dischargeComment
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Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
You were doing fine UNTIL you replaced the VR. The gen tested bad, you fixed it. Fine. At that point you should have reinstalled it and gone from there. Replacing the VR because it looked old is asking for problems. How do you know the new one is good? The quality of parts today sux. I just replaced a brand new Luk clutch because the pressure plate was assembled wrong at the factory. Talk about pizzed off.
You will need a volt/ohm meter to check the resistance from one end of a wire to the other. That will tell you if it's broken somewhere in between the ends. You need to do that to all the wires in the charging circuit. At that point you will have eliminated the gen. and wiring (assuming it is wired correctly). The chance of getting two bad VR's is slim. At this point, my guess is a wiring issue ( broken wire, ground issue, etc.).
If you lived close, I would say bring it over. It wouldn't take long to pin point the problem.Comment
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The rebuilt generator did not work with the original voltage regulator either. I have a volt meter. At what starting points and end points would I measure. With some instruction, I will look at the wiring and grounds. I checked the grounds with a test light to the battery and it lit up.Comment
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Larry, I sent you a pm.Comment
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Latest turn of events:
Took the newly rebuilt generator to a second rebuilder and he took it apart. It tested ok on his machine. He noticed that the top, bottom and center sections of the case were heavily covered with paint from the previous rebuilder (looked like rustoleum!). He scraped the paint off and cleaned up the inside a bit and did not find any other issues. Nice fellow..didn't even charge me!
After putting it back on, it now charges but shows 12.5 to 13 V at idle and and kicks up to 14V at 1200 RPM and over. The dash gauge now goes from discharge at idle and swing rapidly to positive when you rev 1000 to 1200 RPM +. It used to be quit steady before at "O" in the middle of the guage. Same result with new and old VR. I ahve not taken it for a long drive so I do not know if the drive with cure this issue.
Obviously this is better than before but the discharge at idle and the fluctuating gauge concern me. Will a solid state regulator conversion solve the problem?Comment
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Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
Larry,
A small discharge at idle is not that unusual. You do not say the condition of your battery. I would make sure it is charged and all in well with it. It takes some time with a generator to charge a battery not as quick as an alternator system. As for a solid state voltage regulator I really do not think that is the problem. Did you followed all the items Jim suggested that should cover most every thing. (Rustoleum can be your friend.)
PhilComment
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Re: '61 Charging Problem Continues...
Thanks for the input everyone! We will see how it goes from here...Comment
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