Charging problems

Discussion in 'V-8 Buick Powered Regals' started by Fastbeater, Dec 8, 2004.

  1. Fastbeater

    Fastbeater ugly+fast > pretty+slow

    As of late, I've noticed that if I drive with my headlights on, wipers, or fan(climate, not cooling) that my headlights begin to dim. On a rainy night like yesterday with all of the items going in bumper to bumper traffic, the car seems to be dying. I have to put it in neutral and give it a good couple of prolonged revs to get the headlights to come back up to power. As of the last few times I've driven it, it will not start up after I turn it off. After I jump it and I drive it like a mad man, it seems to stay charged. But if I idle around and keep out of it, I drain the battery and it won't crank over if I turn it off.

    So, what are my solutions? My dad said crank up the idle speed, I don't have a tach but I think my idle speed is set around 550 to 650 rpm's, I really don't want to idle this thing around like a prostocker. I was thinking of patching the solution with a high output alternator, would this be the way to go? A Powermaster? And one last idea, I'm running a replacement alternator from the '73 Riv this all came out of, and when it was in the Riv I didn't have any problems keeping the battry charged. Is the 3.8's alternator higher output, could I toss that on and fix the situation?

    By the way the battery is new in the last two months and worked fine until about the last week or so. It's an 855 cca I think, mucho power.
    Please help!

    Thanks.
    Ryan
     
  2. nailheadina67

    nailheadina67 Official Nailheader

    Sounds like you need a new alt..........they are made of 3 sections that work together. If 1 or 2 quit working, the alt will still work but have low output, not enough to power all the accessories but just enough to keep up when no accessories are working. Might be a good idea to upgrade to a larger amperage like maybe a 78 amp..........they are not much more expensive. :bglasses:
     
  3. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

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