[shovelrick]

I did a search and what I found got me confused lol, my under dash Sunpro volt meter and a Greenlee hand held meter at battery with car idling is showing 16+ volts, bad ext regulator? I was reading how to test but got lost in the long write up though greatly appreciated whoever wrote it up so is there a quick & dirty test? or just replace regulator and see? TIA, Rick.

 

[Jim Streib]

Man, sounds like what you are going through, I went through with my 68 Chevy II Nova back in 2014.

On mine I had a tad over 16V at idle and wondered why the headlights were so bright (and then wondered if that voltage also fried the aftermarket radio) and I dug into things and from what I can tell, someone through the years did not know what they were doing and adjusted the original regulator and I was left with correcting things.

Basically on mine I was able to adjust things out on the original 1968 regulator. If yours has been replaced or a different year,you might not have this adjustability OR things have just broke and the regulator needs to be replaced.

Anyway, here's a video of the work I did on my 68 with the original voltage regulator and the adjustments made before and after.

So far as of 2021, what I did is still holding and I have not had any issues although I did buy a backup voltage regulator with the correct date code stamped on it for a "just in case" deal. You never know sometimes.

Jim

 

[DUTCH MAX HEADWORK]

If you are getting 16 volts at the alt or batt, then the regulator is toast.

Here's a legit video that might help tie in what you learned from that long winded write up.

 

[shovelrick]

Jim and Al I was reading about Jims Nova when I did the search but I got lost lol, it's been on the car since I first got it running a few years ago but I think it's always been this way "bad" IIRC it's a Bosch from O'rielys with a lifetime warranty haha maybe they'll swap it out but they're not that expensive anyway, maybe another brand? Any good brand out there these days or they all from the slow boat? That's not so slow anymore

 

[Jim Streib]

Since it's a replacement and has a lifetime warranty, I would exchange it.

Who knows why it failed but to take a variable out, try unplugging the 4 wire connector and plugging it back in. Maybe one or more of the connections is no longer good ?.

Jim

 

[shovelrick]

It's a new M&H light wiring harness and I'm sure I used either die elec grease or an anti corrosion grease on the connection, Im going back to the car tomorrow and pull the reg to go exchange it or buy another brand...IIRC they had to bring it in from a main warehouse

 

[TX66SS]

On mine, I found that the regulator was mounted on rubber grommets and the body was not making contact with ground. The body needs to make contact with ground to dump excess voltage. I left the grommets and added a wire. Problem solved. Now that's all gone and I'll be running a one wire for my new setup.

 

[shovelrick]

I checked ground and it seemed good, I think I'll do the same add a grnd wire

 

[Jim Streib]

Some cars did have the voltage regulator solidly mounted and some had the rubber isolators.

All I can do is comment on what is in my 68 Chevy II Nova in that the voltage regulator is on the rubber mounts AND has a short dedicated ground wire from the base of the regulator where the capacitor bracket bolts to and then the other end of this wire goes to and shares the same ground bolt as the left headlights ground on the backside of the radiator support.

The below is on my car when I was working on things and when I did not have the ground wire or the filter capacitor bolted to the regulators base:

And then once it was all together:

Jim

 

[shovelrick]

I'm sure I don't have a cap on it, I checked for ground with an Ohm meter and got 0 resistance I'm going over there today and I'll take a pic, I'm also calling O'reillys now to see if the have the reg in stock or have to bring it in from the Tampa warehouse

 

[shovelrick]

Guy at O'riellys said he'll have it later this afternoon around 3:30, I couldn't find the receipt but he said don't worry about it (not in comp either) he asked what amp my alt. is and I said whatever's for an SS with a BB, I actually have a Load Boss 130 amp alt. made for an ext. regulator could that be a problem? the alt. didn't say anything in the inst. that it needed a special reg.

 

[72soft-top]

My original fried the points and overcharged my AGM battery with 16.5 volts. The battery smell was pretty bad. The new solid state one works perfectly.

 

[427L88]

And here I go ditching my MIC solid state one for a "disco headlight" USA old school one with Delco Remy cover. I carry the MIC one as backup.

 

[Jim Streib]

Guy at O'riellys asked what amp my alt. is and I said whatever's for an SS with a BB, I actually have a Load Boss 130 amp alt. made for an ext. regulator could that be a problem? the alt. didn't say anything in the inst. that it needed a special reg.

Not to be a buthead but anything else we need to know about your electrical system and setup ?.

I'm one that "assumed" you had an original style alternator and external regulator but now we know different.

ANYWAY, are you sure the alternator is and was designed for an external regulator AND did they give you any info as to what model or part numbers of regulators you could use ?.

Can you post the instructions and/or a link to information about the alternator ?.

I know years ago when I put in a Lestek 200A alternator on my car, the plug for the external regulator was able to be plugged into the old style GM external regulators BUT they had a special adjustable regulator for that particular alternator to use and one could not use anything but the one designed for that particular alternator.

Jim

 

[shovelrick]

Here's some pics of alt and reg, I'm pretty sure the paper work is in the file at home so I'll look for that later but don't remember it saying I needed anything special or I would have bought it, whops horn relay, here's reg

X2

 

[shovelrick]

Since I'm looking right at the phone # I'm giving them a call now to see what they say

 

[shovelrick]

Just spoke with Patrick at Alterstart Systems about their Load Boss alternators and he said part of my problem is the #10 wire feeding the alt and needs to be changed to min #8, also alt being 5-6 yrs old if there's a problem with the alt send it back and they'd be happy to service it free of charge, he also said to bypass reg but I don't want to chance damaging the alt so I'm changing the wire to #8 and swapping regs then see what I have, I also asked if I should be using any special reg for this 135 amp alt and he suggested any solid state reg would be fine

 

[shovelrick]

Also I just found this green wire with an odd plug end?

 

[Jim's69Ragtop]

Green wire looks like the temperature sender?

 

[billdini]

Rick do yourself a big favor and buy a solid state regulator for like under 20 bucks. Swap the top case and no one will ever know. Quieter too.