So I had Barney out for an evening drive tonight; about a 5-mile run at dusk. My first time on the road with the headlights on.
The trip went fine. I went down to Highway 76, drove on the level for a couple miles, then came back up the hill toward home, hitting 60 MPH or so, everything humming along nicely.
I get about a half-mile from home and come off the throttle coasting down the hill, and I notice the ammeter needle is now about halfway toward "D" instead of being in the center of the gage like it should be. The instrument lights are also dim, much dimmer than they were when I started the trip.
I pulled into the driveway and shut off the headlights, and the gage needle swung more toward the center, but not all the way, and my dash lights brightened up a bit but remained dim. I put the trans in Neutral and revved the engine a bit; the needle swung to the "Charge" side of the gage.
So here's my question: Am I experiencing an alternator problem, or a voltage regulator problem? PO replaced the points-type regulator with a solid-state box. I have not serviced the alternator yet, but it seems to have been functioning well so far.
Any troubleshooting tips for figuring out what's up here?
[img=left]http://members.cox.net/clarknovak/lark.gif[/img=left]
Clark in San Diego
'63 F2/Lark Standard
http://studeblogger.blogspot.com
www.studebakersandiego.com
The trip went fine. I went down to Highway 76, drove on the level for a couple miles, then came back up the hill toward home, hitting 60 MPH or so, everything humming along nicely.
I get about a half-mile from home and come off the throttle coasting down the hill, and I notice the ammeter needle is now about halfway toward "D" instead of being in the center of the gage like it should be. The instrument lights are also dim, much dimmer than they were when I started the trip.
I pulled into the driveway and shut off the headlights, and the gage needle swung more toward the center, but not all the way, and my dash lights brightened up a bit but remained dim. I put the trans in Neutral and revved the engine a bit; the needle swung to the "Charge" side of the gage.
So here's my question: Am I experiencing an alternator problem, or a voltage regulator problem? PO replaced the points-type regulator with a solid-state box. I have not serviced the alternator yet, but it seems to have been functioning well so far.
Any troubleshooting tips for figuring out what's up here?
[img=left]http://members.cox.net/clarknovak/lark.gif[/img=left]
Clark in San Diego
'63 F2/Lark Standard
http://studeblogger.blogspot.com
www.studebakersandiego.com
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