My first thread on this topic got flubbed by the migration to the new software, so here's the second attempt.

I am getting some real strange voltage readings from my voltmeter on my instrument cluster. I was driving around the other night and noticed that my interior lights were way too bright. So, I revved up the engine a little bit and the voltage dropped way down, then rose back up, went back down, etc. At one point, I noticed the voltage guage was pegged out past 18 volts. When I floored my gas pedal, I heard a horrible screaching sound around 4,500 rpm, makes me wonder if it came from the alternator.

When I got home, I immediately took the battery out of my car and unplugged the alternator. I don't want to risk my car catching on fire and even worse burning down my house. And now that I think about it, I put my hand on the alternator and it was hot to the touch.

What I am wanting to know, if I put another regulator in and it doesn't help, should I have my alternator rebuilt or just buy a new one? I am pretty caught up in keeping my car all original, since it has EVERY part it left the factory with except for the master cylinder and the usual tune-up items. However, I can't afford to buy a brand new original style alternator (if they're still avaliable).

Are alternator rebuilds usually very good?

 

Simon,
Any alternator shop can rebuild your alternator cheaper than you can buy a new one. There isn't much to the alternator in the way of parts, several vendors (Jeg's and Summit Racing to name just two) sell upgrade kits to rebuild and upgrade your stock alternator to a higher amperage unit if you need it.
Check the phone book and you'll probably find a couple of alternator/starter repair shops that can check out and rebuild your alternator.


[Modified by Smokehouse69, 11:17 PM 11/12/2002]

 

Simon,

Your alt sounds like it's charging now....just too much. Changing the regulator will fix your problem...and isn't too difficult. Or as suggested, you can have a local rebuild shop do it for you. If you use a local shop, be sure he understands that you want your original case used....they may swap parts if they are rebuilding several like units at once. Having him write the case numbers down on the repair ticket....then matching them when you pick-up the alt later will help.

Good luck,

 

Martin, I think I'm going to replace the regulator again here in the next couple days. Maybe I got a bad one? Who knows. When I get the case apart, I'll be able to tell if it is more than that I guess.

 

Had similiar problem recently. Think it is the regulator.

 

I put a new voltage regulator in this evening, it seemed to help the problem. My voltage guage starts out at about 15 - 17 after the car is first started, then it goes back down to around 13 - 14 the rest of the time.

I checked out the bearing in the rear of the alternator, it seemed fine. Now I have to find out what the screeching sound at higher rpm is.

 

I would say it is possible that when the alt was overcharging it was overloaded as well and the belt would have slipped, especially at high rpm's.

I have a friend who is an alternator guy, when he is finished rebuilding one its better than anything you can buy. Thats what I would do.