Freaky AMP's (1 Viewer)

[preacherman]

I was driving back from Colorado last week and experienced some crazy eletric problems. My amps jumped from 13ish to 16+ on the gage while driving. At first I just thought the gage was broken but every time it did it my headlights got super bright and the heater doubled it's out put until the amps dropped back. It has no rime or reason it just does it while driving for a minute or two and then drops back. The alternator is only 6 months old, the belt is tight and I have no idea what is wrong. Anybody got any suggestions?
preacherman
1987 FJ60

 

[Halo3]

Sounds suspiciously like a voltage regulator going out. I won't swear to that, but that is similar to what happened to me in an older Ford truck I used to fool around in.

 

[Guest]

I just replaced a 6 month old reman alternator purchased at shucks. Glad it had the lifetime warrenty. I had similar symptoms as you - and confirmed them with a radioshack multimeter. It was the voltage regulator, but the warrenty gives you a new alt/reg together. Works fine now (though the first one was fine for 4 months too.)
I've heard that voltage over 15 can kill your battery, so I think you should take care of the problem asap.

 

[theo]

13 to 16?? You must have a voltmeter. But it sounds like the regulator to me too. I have an old truck that did that. I played around with trying to fix the regulator for hours and hours. Finally decided to break down and buy one and it was so cheap I had to kick myself.