First Generation Firebird-L Mailing List ......................................................................... Hi Nick,
You will need an accurate voltage meter. Set the VOM to DC volts, connect the meter to the poles of the battery (polarity sensitive). Start the engine and avoid revving the motor, even for a short moment. Record the reading of the meter. A reading lower than 12.6 volts usually indicates a weak battery. Slowly increase the engine speed. The meter reading should increase too, but will stay steady state at an engine speed somewhere at 1000 rpm. >From then on the reading will stay "locked". It should be 13.8V, +/- 0.5V is acceptable. A voltage too high is NOT good: it will over charge your battery and wear out bulbs and other equipment! A voltage regulator is good when the reading hardly reacts to change of engine speed or to adding power consumers like the heater fan or main headlights. If there's voltage drop, it's either a bad wire between the alternator and battery, a bad alternator, or a bad voltage regulator. Good luck Brent Block 68 350 Coupe StAlbert, Alberta, Canada http://firstgenfirebird.org/show/closeup.mv?CarID=378 Subject: Re: [FGF] Charging system problem. First Generation Firebird-L Mailing List ........................................................................ . Is there any way to check the regulator to find out if it is faulty or not? Nick. First Generation Firebird-L Mailing List ........................................................................ . If the generator light is off when the key is in the run position ( before starting ) then comes on when the engine starts , check the ignition fuse. Otherwise , i agree with Brent , check the regulator. Paul C. ........................................................................ . Most likely its the voltage regulator or one of the connections at the reg. Brent -----Original Message----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Submissions to Firebird-L: <[email protected]> Unsubscribe from Firebird-L: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Help: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/firebird/Firebird-L.html> Classifieds: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/ubb/> Owner Pictures: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/show/> Donations: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/store/cart.mv?999999> FGF Merchandise: <http://FirstGenFirebird.org/store>
