hi guys, i may be having an electrical problem or voltage problem, don't know yet. i had the car out today for a small ride and noticed that my volt gauge was reading 18volts, maybe a bad gauge? i got home and shut the car down and it read 15 volts. i hooked up a volt meter to the battery and it read 13volts. i started up he car and the volt meter read 15 1/2volts and the gauge again read 18volts. do i have a bad battery or could my voltage regulator be bad or the gauge in the car be bad? any help please!!
thanks, glen
How much voltage are you reading at the battery while its running? Mine reads around 13.9x while running on both my 78 and 73. If it is in that ballpark I would say to change out the voltage regulator, because even a bad voltage regulator can give proper readings; I speak fromm experiance. If that doesn't fix it replace the gauge.
Also, I would have the battery tested for bad cells, as a bad voltage regulator can take out a battery.
it will read 15 1/2 give or take a half or so. i am not an electric expert, it is very confusing.
With the engine running you should be in the 13.5 volt range...not 15.5 volts. Sounds like the regulator has gone bad but the best thing to do is pull them both and get them tested if you can. If not I would start with replacing the regulator and recheck the voltage. The over voltage issue of the alternator could have damaged the gauge.
i am going to see if i can get both regulator and battery tested today. i didn't think that 15.5 volts was a good thing, i was wondering about what it should be when running, i could not find anything in my books that tells me that.
While you're at it I would suggest getting the alternator checked as well. It might have some issues as well, although i would suspect the voltage regulator. 15.5 volts is definitely too high & will cook that battery quicker than anything.
sorry it took me so long. i took the car to my mechanic to have the charging system checked. there was nothing wrong with the system. reading 12 1/2 volts not running and reading 14 volts when running. but before i went to him i took the regulator off and cleaned off some more paint to get a better ground, may have helped my readings a little better. as far as the gauge in the car it was still reading the 18 volts, changed the gauge out for another new one and it read correctly. so what would make a new gauge go bad?
thanks guys for all your help! glen
Good info there Glen, I've had voltage regulators stick open and over charge the batter till it boiled. So I'm glad you found the issue.
FrankBoss
The over voltage issue you had could have cooked the gauge or it could have just been faulty. Good to hear you got the problem solved. Are you running a sealed battery or a maintenance type battery?
i'm glad too! i have a maintenance free type battery. i guess that would be a sealed battery. i will be keeping an eye on things though.