[65catalina]

Originally Posted by george kujanski

If you have 14.0 volts at high idle or at idle with no or few electrical loads, the system is working correctly. The four wire reg is for a "A' or "F" body car, not for yours.

If the voltage drops at idle, the reason most likely is that the alt shaft speed may be too low. Alternators put out only a small portion of their max rated current at engine idle speed. You may need to up the idle speed a bit or put a smaller pulley on the alt to increase the alt shaft speed. A different alt may have better low speed output characteristics.

George

That was some of my question, will that regulator work on my car? The new one I purchased will not do anything and only manages 12.2V with NO LOAD, so I figured there was some kind of difference. What do I ask for at the auto parts store?

I don't get to 14V anytime. At 2500RPM with the lights on, I will break even on the amp gauge and show 0, but at anything lower, it is discharging. I actually put a different amp gauge on it to verify the factory gauge, and it is correct. With any load on the system, it will discharge. With no load, it is above 12V and shows charging.

To the other point, I was driving at night a few days ago when I noticed all this and the battery was dead when I got home. Again, with no load, I get over 12.5V, but as soon as the lights are on, the voltage goes to 12V or lower.