[tempestfury67]

Hey there, I have a problem thats driving me nuts. I have a 67 tempest with a 326, and a charging problem. When I stop at a light or just idling the battery indicator light comes on, and there is a slight buzzing. I look down at my voltmeter on my guage console and it begins to surge from 14 to 16, as soon as I increase rpms it stops. So not having much time to diagnose I just replaced the alternator and voltage regulator. They were at least 4 years old anyways. Unfortunately this did not cure the problem and now it charges near 15 volts, any ideas? I checked for loose wires, but as of yet have not put a meter on it. Thanks any info appreciated.

[tempestfury67]

Hey there, I have a problem thats driving me nuts. I have a 67 tempest with a 326, and a charging problem. When I stop at a light or just idling the battery indicator light comes on, and there is a slight buzzing. I look down at my voltmeter on my guage console and it begins to surge from 14 to 16, as soon as I increase rpms it stops. So not having much time to diagnose I just replaced the alternator and voltage regulator. They were at least 4 years old anyways. Unfortunately this did not cure the problem and now it charges near 15 volts, any ideas? I checked for loose wires, but as of yet have not put a meter on it. Thanks any info appreciated.

[ddouble]

Black electrical tape over the light and more volume on the radio.
I would start by cleaning grounds. Engine bay and dash. Also make sure where the alt. mounts to the engine is clean. I've seen this mess with readings.
Good luck,
Dan

[PLAY400]

When I first got my 68 bird it had the old mechanical regulator and alternator in it. It was charging high, 15v, and took out the memory in the stereo I installed. Thank goodness I didn't have any fancy electronics in it or they'd be toast. Then I remembered that the old regulators could/had to be adjusted for cut in/ cut out voltages. It worked okay after it was set up but I've since replaced it with an internal regulated alternator.

[george kujanski]

The mechanical regulators may produce an audible buzz when operating, but the idiot light should go out. Since alt and reg are both new, check to make sure the regulator is properly grouded, usually by at least one of the mounting screws. Add a wire from the regulator body to ground to make sure. If you still have a problem I could help by going over your wiring.

Regards, George

[Peter Serio]

the metal housings of your main dash gauge pod needs to be grounded to body or chassis ground, speaking of grounds,
what about the ground straps they sell for under the hood, do you have a
good braided copper ground strap (or better yet, TWO) from the engine block and the
firewall?
Also there is a short one in-between the top of the black inner-fender-liner
and the top of one of the frame horns, I can't remember but I think it's on
the passenger side visible when you open the hood, I'd check and be sure all
the straps are in place, that can cause a lot of weird problems, if they are
missing or poorly installed,(over paint or not clean bolts).
As a last resort I would just upgrade to a non-vintage charging system and do away with the voltage regulator all together, it's very easy to put a GM 2 wire alt on any old 1960s A-body car.
They are much more dependable. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[67blackdiamond]

I had something very similar in my 67 GTO. I didn't have a voltmeter but the rest sounds alike. The voltage reg. would some times buzz and the dash light would come on weakly. Took a while to find the buzzing, wasn't constant. Replaced the reg. Good for a bit and then the same. Thought, defective reg. New was good for a bit then the same. Tested reg. and alt., alls well. Finely found out that the holes in the firewall that the reg. was screwed to, were beat and I kept loosing a good ground to reg. Cleaned it up and went to larger scews and no problem since. So, I my case, it was just a bad ground.

[Peter Serio]

THAT IS A GOOD IDEA, I forgot, but the shell or case of the regulator HAS to have good contact with ground at the firewall as well as the alt mountings, and the engine block.