Electrical gremlins 82 Pickup (1 Viewer)

[hairy_apple]

A couple of weeks ago the charge light came on in my wife's 82 pickup. I checked the alt and it was putting out 14.5 volts and checked the battery and it had 13.5 while running. Everything seemed like it was OK, other then the light.

Now after driving the truck like this for a few weeks, there have been no issues... other then the light is on. Then last week, the headlights, dashlights, everything started dimming slightly and then getting brighter.. kinda pulsing I guess. Not very dim, but noticable.

OK, I thought well the alt is actually dying now.. however I checked it again and same thing as before. Everything is reading OK with a mulitmeter. I checked for anything loose and can't find anything. Any ideas? My wife stopped driving her truck for now until we figure it out and I can't seem to find anything wrong. Anything else I can try to check?

 

[onemanarmy]

Voltage regulator?

 

[Bob_Garrett]

Is the brake light on as well? If so, the is a "charge light relay" located in the passenger side kick panel. Try unplugging and see if the light goes off.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Voltage regulator?

That's kinda what I was thinking. Maybe the regulator is just starting to go bad. Have you been able to test it when it was actually acting up?

 

[Mekanecman]

Load up the alternator, by turning on headlights, fan to high and radio on. Test the voltage at the battery and see if there is any difference from when you tested it before. I've seen a lot of alternators that work great when they're sitting in my bay unloaded, but when I put a load on the system the output voltage goes up crazy high. The voltage regulator is prolly on its last leg.

 

[Thundra]

I had one and the alternator and voltage regulator both went out on me at the same time.

 

[Thundra]

Hey Apple, you got pic? I sold my 82 some time ago in Chico. It doesn't happen to be white is it?