Electrical oddesey

[Highway by the Sea]

My 1973 Plymouth Satellite recently stopped registering a charge on the ALT gauge and my battey kept dying.  I took the battery to be recharged and tested it at the parts store.  The battery tested fine, as did the alternator so I figured it must be the voltage regulator.  I bought a new one and tested the car with it installed and STILL no charge.  I took out this regulator figuring that it was not the problem and put the old one backin (remembr this later). By now I was mystified because the battery, alternator, and voltage regulator were all replaced at the same time three years ago so they should not be bad with so few miles on them.  So I removed the alternator and took it to be tested again.  THIS time it tested bad so I bought a new one and installed it myself.  My ALT gauge now registered a charge, but the needle kept fluxing until it no longer moved again.  I had the new alternator checked again and it was fine.  I had the battery checked and it now tested bad, so I bought and installed a new one.  Still no charge.  So I re-installed the new voltage regualtor again and STILL no charge would register.  I finally gave up and took it to a mechanic.  You would never believe what the problem was.  My old voltage regultor had gone bad after I replaced the alternator. The new voltage regulator was PAINTED gray and would not properly ground on the firewall where it mounts.  So when I invested in a more-expensive AC Delco regulator the system now charges and runs better than it ever did before.  So ALL THREE electrical items (battery, regulator, and alternator) went bad at EXACTLY the same time!  The alternator was the first (which the store tester missed) because when I replaced it the old volt regulator had worked for a while, then died.  Somewhere during this same time the battery ALSO bit the bullet.  So when you think that a loss of charge is either the battery, alternator, OR the voltage regulator and nothing works, it might be ALL THREE.  Also do not buy the painted voltage regulators from Advance Auto since they do not work at all.  They have been made aware of the problem.

[John_Kunkel]

Also do not buy the painted voltage regulators from Advance Auto since they do not work at all.  They have been made aware of the problem.

Ah-so. Hung Chow will be sad to hear his lead-painted product is faulty. 

[Highway by the Sea]

I never would have guessed that these were cheap foreign junk.  Go AC Delco!