Posted on 03/12/2008 6:04:20 PM PDT by djf
Question for car enthusiasts:
I put a new starter and battery in the Impala. After I did it, the internal lights and dash lights, etc were flickering. To make a long story short, I replaced the alternator.
Bit the voltage at the battery was nominal... so I tried to adjust the voltage regulator.
The car has the original Delco-Remy voltage regulator in it. It consists of two coils, one is called the field effect coil, and one is the voltage regulator coil. There is a timy plastic button that adjusts the gap for the voltage regulator coil.
With the gap closed, the voltage at the battery is nominal. With the gap wide open, the voltage is high (about 15.5) I seem to get the best results if the gap is adjusted so there is sparking in between it.
So my question is this: assuming I'm right, that the gap should be set kinda in between open and closed, should I do that:
When all the lights are on, the blower motors, the wipers, I mean at what is about full load, or when the lights are off and drainage is at a minimum
Also, mechanical voltage regulators like this are notoriously susceptible to temp changes, so should I do the adjustments when the car is at operating temp? Or is cold good enough?
I know if I turn the button all the way out so that it's always open, the voltage keeps climbing and goes up to about 17 and I don't want to kill another battery.
Thanks!
keep tinkering and when you melt it you can get a solid state replacement at NAPA.
I’d be lyin my azz off if I said I never broke anything before.
But honestly, I’m pretty darn good at “tinkering”...!!!
didn’t meant to be a smart ass-not sure ot the age of the Impala you’re discussing but nothing is as confusing as looking under the hood of one of “today’s” cars-use to be someone could do some of their own repair work-not anymore.
Working on today’s cars is actually easier in many respects. The most difficult cars to work on are actually the carbureted domestics of the 70s and 80s with the billion vacuum lines that run for miles and miles all because the Big Three were too cheap to go to fuel injection.
Of course, it helps to have kept up to date on what’s what and not have buried one’s head in the sand with regards to automotive development for the last 30 years.
I guess you have an older Chevy if it has a separate VR.
You can set it with a voltmeter and feeler gauge. You need the specs for your car(Chiltons manual will have this info)
Right way right has a good idea too, just change to a new style solid state (it plugs right in)
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