Somethings wrong...

[siteunseen]

I agree with Bob, they look good for only 75 miles.  Post another picture after 1,000. 8^)

[Redwing]

Thank you Bob and Cliff.  I do appreciate your comments, and am SUPER thrilled about your diagnosis... we are free now to run and run and run!   Love it...

Thanks ,

Jai

[Redwing]

FLASH NEWS:

Michael, my neighbor the car paint pro, came over to look at a rust spot rearing it's nasty head up on RedBird.  I intended to photo the process of him working on it, but in the experience of watching and learning, I forgot.  This spot is along the edge of the left qtr. panel, where the hood  closes.  Mostly out of sight, but now was making an appearance on the top, not only on the side edge.  Michael did his magic (his every day work) on the spot making a temporary fix.  Explaining it will need further intense work on it soon as I can, as it is too far gone for a quick fix at this time.  I'm so happy at having this man right next door, but wished that the diagnoses was better.  Blah!  

He then went all over RB painting the simple road stone strikes, and similar.   So she is as good as she can be for now.  Maybe we will be able to squeeze out a few car shows this summer, before the rust spot gets worse.  Again he had much praise about the total condition of her.  Saying "for a daily driver, her engine is clean.  I've not seen one that clean without the normal stuff done to it to make it look good.  You can tell she was cared for".

So, yayyy, I'll be off to Chattanooga Saturday to meet with our members, and others.  Looks like a fun day ahead!

P. S. Added an older photo of the rust spot just to show where it is at.

Edited March 27, 2017 by Redwing
add photo

[gwri8]

From the RIP DeAnna thread…..

"Hello all my friends,

I'll  start by saying that I'm doing the best I can.  Life is lonely here tho.  Thanks for all your comments. 

Redbird is now having some problems and I don't know of where to put my request for help.   The other night driving home in the dark my speedometer etc. dials were moving from bright to dim constantly.  The headlights also were dim.  When I got home the back up lights did not come on at all.  Easy get around is to not drive at night.  But I'm  concerned that somewhere in the vast amount of wiring, something may decide to catch on fire.  Not a problem for the moment, my wallet with all important things has disappeared.  I last saw it in my purse at church, drove right home, and it is not there now.  I did not stop anywhere, no way I could have left it anywhere.  Sooo, dear RedBird is going nowhere while I am without a drivers license.    No chances!"

 

I went by Jai's to check on Red Bird today.  We swapped out her non working tachometer with another that had an unknown history.  The new tach didn't work either so that problem is likely caused by something else.

 

As far as the Alternator is concerned with the car sitting at idle, the dash voltmeter reads 14-15.  With increased rpm's the voltmeter dances/floats between 13-16.

With my Innova 3320 multimeter on the battery with the car off it read    12.95

Engine on    14.2-14.6

With engine and headlights on    13.24

I've never done a voltage drop test before and I tried it on Redbird.

With the black to the Battery Neg and the Red to the Alt case at around 1500rpm it read -18 to -22 on my meter. It would not stay still.

On the positive side with red to red on the battery and the black to the b+ post on the Alt it read .1 to .4

I did find a loose battery to body ground that was semi loose and cleaned and tightened that.  Cleaned the Alternator connections with DeOxit and re-attached with dielectric grease. Checked an retightened the fan belt.

Restarted the car and the dash voltmeter read the same as before.

 

Any suggestions from electrical guys for the Tach?   And is it time for a new Alternator? 

 

 

 

[SteveJ]

RPM is important for voltage measurements. The FSM lists voltages for engine speed. 

For the tachometer, there is a resistor in the circuit. It is identified on page BE-3 of the FSM. There is also a ground and 12VDC source. Since the ground and 12VDC source are shared with other instruments, I would guess it's the resistor unless other gauges are acting up. Replacing it will probably require soldering in a new one on the old connector. 2.2Kohm 1 Watt would work. They have them at Frys, Amazon, etc. (Lifetime supply: https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-a11101900ux0055-Metal-Resistor-Piece/dp/B015CHKSZW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1493437627&sr=8-4&keywords=2.2k+ohm+1+watt+resistor)

Without more testing, it's difficult to be sure if it's the alternator or voltage regulator. Rockauto has a closeout on a voltage regulator $12.52 + shipping. Their cheapest alternator is $22.06 +shipping, and that includes the core charge.

[rcb280z]

I suspect the voltage regulator. I had a similar situation. Charging system was over charging. The reason I say overcharging is because mine was all of a sudden nearly reading 15 volts and would never go over 13.25 even at revving the engine when the voltage regulator was working.

Edited April 29, 2017 by rcb280z

[siteunseen]

Can you go to a local auto parts and have them roll their testing cart out and see if the alternator fails or passes? Advance does that around here for free, battery test load too.

[Patcon]

That is not always definitive. They failed several alternators in a row on my truck. Turned out to be a bad terminal connection...

[siteunseen]

42 minutes ago, Patcon said:

That is not always definitive. They failed several alternators in a row on my truck. Turned out to be a bad terminal connection...

Battery terminal?  I'd like to think Greg would know that right off the bat.  But a bad terminal on the alternator should show up with a volt meter.

Or are talking about a bad connection on the parts store's equipment?

 

[siteunseen]

Charles I'm sorry if that came out as dickish but the dot dot dot at the end left me wondering what you meant.

Nothing but love from here. 

[240260280]

Don't forget the fusible link connections.

[Patcon]

No worries Cliff

I have a diesel F250 and it wouldn't charge. Auto parts store checked and alternator showed bad. Changed it still no charge. Changed it again still shows bad alternator. 3 bad ones in a row seems really unlikely. Took it to a local auto electric shop. Turns out there was a bad connection to the bottom of the battery post from the alternator. Had arced enough to prevent charging. Wasn't visible from the top