The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 1965 Chevrolet C10 - charging issues

hiya folks.

1965 Chevrolet C10 lwb stepside

1992 350/5.7L engine with carburetor.

1969 Chevrolet C10 alternator with external voltage regulator.

Interstate Battery / all seasons / January 2016

Ok, a few days ago my blinkers stopped blinking while I was riding around. I was like : hmnn, I've seen this before, it is not charging.

I made it home and put the volt meter on it and sure enough, it was only running around 12 volts.

Also, the big red wire going to the alternator from the wiring harness that goes to the plug on the voltage regulator was burnt up on the alternator side. I fixed that, but... what caused it? Hmnn.

I took the alternator off and took it to the parts store, they ran the bench test on it 3 times and it passed.

I did the Wrenchbender Ret. troubleshooting method as described in this thread here :

1965 C10 - alternator or battery...

and it started over charging like 15 plus volts.

I put in the new voltage regulator, snapped the plug back in, checked all the wire connections... fired it all up and it is only reading 12.39 volts.

I'm confused now, what else can I check?

Maybe the bench test was wrong and the alternator is off just enough?

Check continuity in all of the wires in the harness from the alternator to the voltage regulator?

Thanks folks.

-W

"New" doesn't necessarily mean "good". If the regulator doesn't have Delco on it, trash it and get an original equipment item from Ebay.
Jerry

Took the battery out and went to the store to have it tested by their fancy machine, it passed.

Checked all of my connections again.

Checked the wires from the alternator to the voltage regulator for continuity with my volt meter... they were all good as well.

Double checked the ground wire on the voltage regulator and moved it to the side on the bare metal.

Snugged everything down again... fired it up... when I revved it up, it was showing good 14 plus volts again.

So... I guess it is good now.

When I took it for a spin I noticed it is loosing anti-freeze... and traced it back to the heater core.

Well, at least that is something I know how to fix.

Happy boltin' folks,

-W