electrical

[ltc86]

A while ago, my amp light started to come on, it would only be on for about a minute, then flicker a little, then go out. This mostly happens when I start the car, but will sometimes come on while driving. I checked the battery and its fine, then started the car and put an anaolog voltmeter across the batery, the needle jumped around 12-13 for about 30sec, then went to about 15 and stayed, even while the amp light was still on for another 30sec. The car always starts quicky, but if I turn the rear defroster on the ilde goes down slightly, and if I push the window up button when the window is already up, the lights will dim, but the 800watt(of crap, probably really doesn't draw that much power) stereo system doesn't affect anything at all, no dimming with big bass hits. I think the defroster and window thing is normall, especially with old cars, but I am probably wrong. Is my alternator slowly starting to go, or should I check other things first like the voltage regulator, or is the amp light just going stupid?

[Towncar]

Originally Posted by ltc86

Is my alternator slowly starting to go, or should I check other things first like the voltage regulator, or is the amp light just going stupid?

Sounds like the regulator is going bad. One of the worst things to be concerned with when a regulator starts to act up is overcharging.

[sreilly77]

[quote=ltc86 Is my alternator slowly starting to go, or should I check other things first like the voltage regulator, or is the amp light just going stupid?[/QUOTE]


i agree with towncar. your regulator sounds like it is going. you will know when your regulator has completely gone when you start to smell rotten eggs. you will smell it from under the hood. that means you battery is overcharging and can possibly explode. be careful

[carlos80]

might be the regulator or maybe the rectifier assy. to check the rectifier use an digital meter an the A/C setting you should read no more than 1.5v. or if you take it to an autozone you can have them perform an amp output test and some can check the rectifier assy. see if your diodes are good, which cuases the symptom you describe.