My dads mag 318 does that. We changed out the alt, no luck. We assume it’s either his old ass battery or the terminals being non-oem
Charging system
I was out night wheeling with some of my buds the other night and was running all of my lights including my four KC flood lights and now my volt meter still sits at 13v but now spikes from 12v to 14v every few minutes, does anyone think that I might have hurt my regulator?
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I had someone pull my regulator off and I noticed the terminal from the female plug was still on one of the posts on the regulator. I'm not sure if my friend broke it while trying to remove the plug or if it was already damaged and is the cause of my problem. Im going to see if I can find a new pigtail and solder it on. At least the back isn't melted so it might be ok. I have a spare just in case! 👍
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Maybe your meter is getting Tuckered out. 
Bucky
Bucky
I never heard of that way to test electronics. I tried to find a circuit diagram, to see if it is valid, but could not. To me it is like checking the battery, and saying the truck is good to go. Especially will not work for all circuits. If a capacitor is connected to the points you are testing, that will explain the readings moving, as the cap charges. A proper test would involve an adjustable power supply, so you can see the voltage that triggers the change in output.My new one tested out at 14.4 ohms of resistance and then 14.0 and then 13.95. I dont get it. View attachment 638762
That test may be a quick indicator for that brand listed int the other video, but it cannot be valid for all possible circuits. If it did, Mopar would have been using that instead of the methods they show in the FSM.
Interesting. Ya I figured that it must be a capacitor or something causing that. I just bought a new pigtail today and a buddy is going to swing by after work tomorrow and solder it on for me as I can not reach it. Hopefully that is my issue.I never heard of that way to test electronics. I tried to find a circuit diagram, to see if it is valid, but could not. To me it is like checking the battery, and saying the truck is good to go. Especially will not work for all circuits. If a capacitor is connected to the points you are testing, that will explain the readings moving, as the cap charges. A proper test would involve an adjustable power supply, so you can see the voltage that triggers the change in output.
That test may be a quick indicator for that brand listed int the other video, but it cannot be valid for all possible circuits. If it did, Mopar would have been using that instead of the methods they show in the FSM.
Bolt them both to the firewall, and put the old pigtail on the one not used. Then if you have a problem, it is just a matter of swapping from on to the other.
I could do that but I don't really want to clutter my firewall. It takes two seconds to unbolt the two bolts and swap it out to be honest. 😊Bolt them both to the firewall, and put the old pigtail on the one not used. Then if you have a problem, it is just a matter of swapping from on to the other.
I could do that but I don't really want to clutter my firewall. It takes two seconds to unbolt the two bolts and swap it out to be honest. 😊
a buddy is going to swing by after work tomorrow and solder it on for me as I can not reach it.
I just posted this at yet another chaging problem forum page...I never heard of that way to test electronics. I tried to find a circuit diagram, to see if it is valid, but could not. To me it is like checking the battery, and saying the truck is good to go. Especially will not work for all circuits. If a capacitor is connected to the points you are testing, that will explain the readings moving, as the cap charges. A proper test would involve an adjustable power supply, so you can see the voltage that triggers the change in output.
That test may be a quick indicator for that brand listed int the other video, but it cannot be valid for all possible circuits. If it did, Mopar would have been using that instead of the methods they show in the FSM.
I know, but that testing is not shown any where else. It may apply to their regulators specifically, but I even have doubts on that. I sent that video to a couple of friends that are experts in electronics, one right away said BS (As to applying to all regs), waiting to hear back from the others. For one, I doubt all regulators even from Mopar have the same internal circuitry. There is specific integrated chips that all they do is control alternators. A company would be foolish to not look at using one of them in a regulator (I bet that is what that company does). I found several I would love to try, but the only sources I could find wanted a minimum purchase of 100.
Delco recognizes that theirs and aftermarket regs do not all have the same internals. But they did allow aftermarket companies to use their name (or something), if the regs meet Delcos standards for how they operate. Their test procedure is pretty much simulating the operating condition, with a variable voltage power supply, and measuring the output.
Delco recognizes that theirs and aftermarket regs do not all have the same internals. But they did allow aftermarket companies to use their name (or something), if the regs meet Delcos standards for how they operate. Their test procedure is pretty much simulating the operating condition, with a variable voltage power supply, and measuring the output.
Well, i think its my battery. I just installed a new alternator today and my gauge still twitches between 10 and 14 volts but mostly sits around 10 volts when running. I have my brand new spare regulator on with a new plug and pigtail and all of my wires under the hood look good. I also doubt it has anything to do with my wiring behind my dash. My battery is an AGM and I've heard that they can do strange things when they get old in comparison to lead acid plates and my battery is 14/15 years old and i noticed during the winter when it snowed for a week that my engine laboured a bit when cold cranking, so im thinking that my battery is giving up the ghost. Im going to go get my battery load tested tomorrow and if it's bad I'll buy a new one. I'm so lucky my good buddy owns Brian Roberts auto electric here in town because he lent me the new alternator to try out and if it wasn't the issue then he said just to return it. That's huge because most people would say "you install it, you own it".
I put my battery on slow charge all night long and the most that it reads is 12.8 volts so my battery is definitely done. Today I will go buy a new one and see what happens.
Yep, it was the battery. Thankfully a buddy of mine owns a battery store and sold me a new one for $50! Well It looks new! Lol. Anyways, good enough for now until I can buy another AGM. First picture is the printout of my Optima battery and the second pic is the new battery condition.
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Question: Can you solder fuseable links or do they need to be crimped? I ask because it's been a long time since I've replaced a fuseable link and because after figuring out that my battery was the culprit, I had the same buddy who helped swap my alternator for a new one, helped again to swap my old one back in so I could return the $200 alternator that I didn't need but he went a put a wrench on the battery post of the new alternator before removing the negative cable on the battery and touched metal and blew my fuseable link. I HATE other people working on my stuff, I absolutely hate it, especially if they are not the most qualified, my problem is that I have an abundance of friends that are willing to help me, just not the ones who are qualified, those guys have developed egos the size of Texas over the years and are just so busy that they can't help unless I want to wait a month, meanwhile, they have forgotten that I used to help them many more times than they ever helped me back in the day (although I do like to work by myself, but still, I've helped them more than they helped me ever). I need to invent an apparatus that can allow me to work on my engine. 💪
Yes, you can solder them. They blow by the current going through and creating heat enough to melt the steel. Soldering will never get close enough to think about melting steel.
This is when you befriend a few nerds who can develop a robot with remote that can fly you over your engine compartment and a hoist that you can wheel under. These days, if you can think it, it can be done. Except time travel. You can't go back and do over. Believe me, if I could, I would. lolQuestion: Can you solder fuseable links or do they need to be crimped? I ask because it's been a long time since I've replaced a fuseable link and because after figuring out that my battery was the culprit, I had the same buddy who helped swap my alternator for a new one, helped again to swap my old one back in so I could return the $200 alternator that I didn't need but he went a put a wrench on the battery post of the new alternator before removing the negative cable on the battery and touched metal and blew my fuseable link. I HATE other people working on my stuff, I absolutely hate it, especially if they are not the most qualified, my problem is that I have an abundance of friends that are willing to help me, just not the ones who are qualified, those guys have developed egos the size of Texas over the years and are just so busy that they can't help unless I want to wait a month, meanwhile, they have forgotten that I used to help them many more times than they ever helped me back in the day (although I do like to work by myself, but still, I've helped them more than they helped me ever). I need to invent an apparatus that can allow me to work on my engine. 💪
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