New Alternator, New Voltage Regulator

[VN Commy]

Is it possible for the battery warning light to come on due to a faulty instrument cluster? The other week my battery went flat and my battery warning light has been on. I replaced the voltage regulator yesterday with a new one and that didn't turn the light off so today I just put in another alternator with the new voltage regulator. The battery warning light still didn't come off. The battery warning light has been on ever since I changed a circut board inside the instrument cluster (the one everyone resolders to stop sticky gauges, I got a 2nd hand one for cheap). So I changed back to my old circut board and the warning light didn't come on. So now I'm not sure which circuit board is the faulty one. Anyone know more about this? The battery that went flat was fairly old I think, so it could have gone flat on its own..

[calais_cruzin]

Have u put a multi-meter on it to see how many voltz the alternator is chargin at...Should be a around 14.3-14.4 volt when car is running.The Battery light only comes on when ur alternator is not chargin properly or ya dash not workin properly....If it is gettin 14.4volt when car is running n the light is still on its the dash but if it is on 12.4 or lower its the alternator....im thikin its ur light thats playin up....

[VN Commy]

Got a brand new battery today and put it in the car. Started it up and the battery warning light came back on. Got the multimeter out and found it was reading only around 8V between the alternator B+ output terminal and ground (where the negative battery terminal bolts to the chassi). Is this the correct way to hook up the multi? How can this be as the voltage regulator is brand new? Im pretty sure the alternator is good too because it was working in the car I took it out of. I'm really lost on this... any help is appreciated.

[commy92]

correct method is to start car.. chuck multimeter + on battert + and multimeter - on battery - . Now it should run a minimum 13.5v any less and ide be getting myself another alternator. Actually anything less then 14 and i would be considering it. It SHOULD be around 14.4v

[VN Commy]

Oh ok cheers. I did that the other day, I wasn't sure if that was the right method. The battery read 12.7V but then droped down to only 12.0V when the car was started. Looks like I might have to fork out for another alternator. New ones are so expensive, the one I recently bought is just second hand with the new voltage reg.

[Snotty]

yeh sounds low. my mate had a similar problem with the light coming on, check and the alternator was fine, it was a bad earth from the engine block

[VN Commy]

Started the car up again today to run some more tests and for some reason the battery light didn't come on. I connected the multimeter and it read around the 14.4V point. I have no idea how this happened but I'm happy. The car some how came right by itself...
Must have been a bad connection somewhere.

[11gothevt11]

Where abouts is the earth on the engine block???
As i am haveing same problem with new regulator

[Defected]

Was lucky.. picked up a reco alternator from pick a part.

Try ya local wreckers.. some of em may have vn/vps with decent gear in it

[Vlad01]

err umm? the fusible link? check that. Its the brown little bit of wire at the positive terminal. Check it for continuity with the meter.

[11gothevt11]

hi there
I have fitted new regulator was working well for 10 minutes charging 14.2 volts at 2500 rpm battery light off
But after 10 minutes volts went down to 11.7 volts battery light on
I cleaned all contact points on battery terminals
Cleaned the earth contacts
Checked with multi meter all 3 wires on plug puting out around same as battery

I checked the new regulator fitted in plug the brushes were around same as battery 0.5 v lower

But i done same to old regulator brushes were only 1.55 v and 3.2 volts

Is this a way to test if your regulator is stuffed?????

But i have no idea why the new regulator isn't charging????
Fusible link??? but power is getting to back of alternator.. Do i still need to check this??
Anything eles i could check???

Please help any comments more than welcome
Thanks in advance

[wrx884]

hey guys i got a similar problem that i finally got around 2 sorting out. I had this problem bout a year ago somtimes my alternator would charge somtimes it wouldnt (more so wen winters arrived where id have 2 use more accessories), so replaced the regulator and nothing changed. old reg bushes werent really worn down much compared 2 the new 1 so i assumed it was the alternator thats packed it in???

replaced with a new alternator the other day and nothing has changed it still sits on bout 12.2V wen idling and drops around 10V with all accessories on but i noticed wen i increased the revs and the more i rev it, the higher the charging volts goes up and hits 14V n just over but as soon as i take the revs off or drop the revs so do the volts.

any ideas? ive checked fusable links 4 continuity and that seems fine n so does the fuse lookin on inspection, so wats next 2 check???

will upgrading the grounds b it?? im yet 2 do that but am goin 2 neways.

[11gothevt11]

hey guys i got a similar problem that i finally got around 2 sorting out. I had this problem bout a year ago somtimes my alternator would charge somtimes it wouldnt (more so wen winters arrived where id have 2 use more accessories), so replaced the regulator and nothing changed. old reg bushes werent really worn down much compared 2 the new 1 so i assumed it was the alternator thats packed it in???

replaced with a new alternator the other day and nothing has changed it still sits on bout 12.2V wen idling and drops around 10V with all accessories on but i noticed wen i increased the revs and the more i rev it, the higher the charging volts goes up and hits 14V n just over but as soon as i take the revs off or drop the revs so do the volts.

any ideas? ive checked fusable links 4 continuity and that seems fine n so does the fuse lookin on inspection, so wats next 2 check???

will upgrading the grounds b it?? im yet 2 do that but am goin 2 neways.

Hi there
I had similar problem
I changed regulator and still wouldn't charge...
anyways I bought a brand new alternator........
Where are you measureing the volts from??? Dash??? back of alternator??? battery????
I was talking to auto elec..He said put another wire from alternator to battery around 4 or 5 mm thick
Befor i did this back of alternator had a tiny higher reading at idle .12..Than battery
After i put extra lead only .04 differance
Sounds a tiny amount but when using all the extra stuff in winter theres more charge getting to battery

[wrx884]

Ive been measuing from the battery and the back of the alternator altho its great having the volts on the dash i just dont trust them 100% but according 2 that its only bout .3-.5V difference.

so basically uve been told 2 upgrade the guage of the alternator B+ wire???

[11gothevt11]

Ive been measuing from the battery and the back of the alternator altho its great having the volts on the dash i just dont trust them 100% but according 2 that its only bout .3-.5V difference.

so basically uve been told 2 upgrade the guage of the alternator B+ wire???

I have installed a extra cable.... so i have 2 wires from alternator to battery

But in other thoughts 10Volts.... Something is wrong


Make sure the connecter on the wire is tight..Give it a good yank(back of alternator..main postive lead) ....If it comes off change the connecter.
Also when i installed new cable...I put heat shink tubing on cable....A little drop of super glue on conncter and wire

You don't need to do this Just what i did...I went overboard a bit
As if any of these wires come off and they earth to body and mixed with a tiny petrol leak..And you have a fire

[11gothevt11]

Ive been measuing from the battery and the back of the alternator altho its great having the volts on the dash i just dont trust them 100% but according 2 that its only bout .3-.5V difference.

so basically uve been told 2 upgrade the guage of the alternator B+ wire???

I was told this befor from another thread
Have you cleaned all the wire terminals going to battery????
Clean the earth connecters???

[wrx884]

The B+ connector seems secure ive cleaned all the terminals and connectors but still no change. my problem is its not holding its charge at 14V while engine is running so even tho ive lost 2V somhow, somthings not keeping the charge? as soon as i apply revs it increases, then let the revs drop off so does the volts. I havent cleaned the earth connectors as im gonna upgrade them all using 4gauge wiring coz of the stereo system in the car but i would assume even with old groundings it should still b able 2 hold its charge even if it was around 13-13.5V.

i checked my belt on the alternator aswell ive adjusted that so theres roughly 3-5mm slack in the longest run but ive noticed my powersteering belt needs adjusting but that shouldnt alter the charge rate should it???

[wrx884]

Just thought id update this we finally got my alternator problem solved. Turns out the new regulator that was put in was faulty and there was nothing wrong with my old alternator. Got a boche auto elec 2 take a look at it and he tested it on the bench and all it needed was another new regulator.

But with the 2 brand new alternators i got (aftermarket oceana i think) wouldnt have worked properly from the start neways as the pulleys on those r way 2 large 4 the belt so they werent spinnning fast enough. i managed 2 find a slighly smaller pulley than the original 1 again and put that on my original alternator and now i can drive around with all accessories on at 14V and on idle 12.5V which im happy enough with.

[11gothevt11]

Just thought id update this we finally got my alternator problem solved. Turns out the new regulator that was put in was faulty and there was nothing wrong with my old alternator. Got a boche auto elec 2 take a look at it and he tested it on the bench and all it needed was another new regulator.

But with the 2 brand new alternators i got (aftermarket oceana i think) wouldnt have worked properly from the start neways as the pulleys on those r way 2 large 4 the belt so they werent spinnning fast enough. i managed 2 find a slighly smaller pulley than the original 1 again and put that on my original alternator and now i can drive around with all accessories on at 14V and on idle 12.5V which im happy enough with.

Well with my old alternator i tried 2 new regulators none of them were charging...
So i ended up buying a brand new alternator....
My old alternator had a funny noise like a washing machine.....So if your alternator sounds like a washing machine..Its most proberly stuffed even with new regulator