Charging System Question

Denis Bouchard · #1 (**permalink**) 10-20-2002, 12:16 PM

I've a 289 in my Contemporary, which has been sitting in a nice warm/dry room since June of this year (garage filled with furniture for a house renovation). The battery was hooked up and the disconnect switch is wired to power and was off.

I picked the car up this weekend. It started right away with no issues. The charging guage swung to the far left (C), but did not equalize to centre after the customary 10+ seconds. I drove the car home (25 minutes) and the guage continued to show strong charging. It also ran slightly rougher than when I dropped it off, with a warm idle of 550 rpm.

The battery had been new this summer. Any ideas as to whether I may have fried the ballast resistor or the external regulator?

Any thoughts???

Merci.....Denis

Whaler · #2 (**permalink**) 10-20-2002, 12:36 PM

Dennis
Can you check the battery voltage while its running to see if you have a proper charge? 13.8--14.4 sort of levels, using a meter at the terminals.

Then check it with the car turned off.

Tim

mr0077 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-2002, 02:36 PM

Denis, I just got back from exchanging my battery...I didn't pay any attention to the high charging on the ammeter, and it fried (took several weeks and a road trip). Anyway, I fixed it by changing the external regulator. Have the charging system checked (free at Auto Zone, Pep Boy, etc.), I bet it's the regulator.

Whaler · #4 (**permalink**) 10-20-2002, 06:38 PM

Ken
Up here in Canada they say batteries sold by Canadian Tire fry a lot of alternators becuase they come off the shelf with initially an insufficient charge. The alternators, especially the high output 100+ amp jobs, don't last very long at all.

Likely exactly what you have described.

Be interesting to use an external clamp-on ammeter to see what kind of output is on the alt output wire

Tim

Denis Bouchard · #5 (**permalink**) 10-21-2002, 04:46 AM

Ken and Tim; thanks for the comments.

Tim; I've a wiring dyslexia, and haven't added an external ammeter to my tool box for fear of the damage I could do. A little information in the wrong hands.... . When I put this car together, the wiring was outsourced entirely.

I will acquiesce, however, and purchase one as I don't expect to run the vehicle again prior to spring.

Interesting comments on the Crappy Tire battery, as this is exactly what I put in the car in June. I believe it had a good charge when purchased (so they told me). It was tested, run for 230 miles, and even after sitting for several months, had lots of juice.

Ken, several years ago I had a similar experience. At that time my needle was slightly biased to D as opposed to C. Turns out that I had messed up the alternator wiring while putting the car back together following paint. A new external regulator and back to normal, but not before the battery died at the beer store. The guage told me that something was up. No trouble getting a boost...

The regulator makes sense as a start, and is an inexpensive fix. I'll also check the voltage. I'll let you know.

Appreciate the advice.....Denis

Bob Putnam · #6 (**permalink**) 10-21-2002, 05:09 AM

Check the voltage first. You can buy an adequate VOM for less than $20 at Radio Shack. It's something that nobody with a kit should be without. Heck - I carry one in both my "normal" cars and have one at home too. That's beside the three or four I have at work.