My Riv has been running fine until yesterday when idling up to an intersection the voltmeter jumps up to 16+ volts. I pulled off and turned it off then started it back up with no accessories on and the volts returned to normal except every now and then the volts flick up for and instant and back down. I figure oh well the regulator has given up after 35 years and park it to go get a new regulator and not burn up any electronics. Went to Advance and picked up a new regulator. Installed it and started the Riv up and the new regualtor regulated nothing. No matter what always 16"+ volts. I put the old one back in making sure all the terminals are clean and making contact and drove home watching the volts close. Went to NAPA this morning and picked up another regulator figuring that the one from Advance was just junk. Installed the NAPA one and with the motor running I get 12 on the voltmeter and a GEN lite on the dash. Great! Another piece of crap. Put the old Delco one back in and drove 3mi to work today just fine. It seems to cause problems when I have a load on the system so if I don't have the A/C or lights on it works. Anybody have suggestions on where to get a good regulator? The Advance was made in China as was the NAPA one. The NAPA one had a slip of paper in the box stating that it was a solid state replacement with no moving parts although it looks just the same as the Advance one. When you remove the cover there are points and moving parts! What gives? Keith
Verify that you realy have 16+ volts, with a volt meter. Could be your guage in the car................
voltage regulator the non solid state external regulators ar adjustable . ther is a screw that can be turned to change the output voltage .
I adjusted and adjusted my original voltage regulator for weeks, but it would always under or over charge the battery.You need to understand that the factory voltage regulators are VERY sensitive to temperature. I remember reading the factory procedure on adjusting the reg. and they specify a temp to adjust at, and that the setting changes just by installing the cover (it holds the heat in). I bought one of the solid state replacement regulators, replaced the cover with my old Delco-Remy cover and it's been perfect ever since. The nice thing is it looks stock too.
OK I searched other GM sites for info about voltage regulators. What I found was a large number of people who kept the external regulator switched to a solid state replacement. The recommended unit is a Wells VR715 and can be found at Autozone. No Autozone here but I got one of my employees who lives right by the nearest one 30mi away to pick up a VR715 for me. Just installed it and the problem seems to be fixed. If anyone else needs to replace their voltage regulator stay away from the made in China electro-mechanical units at Advance and NAPA. They are complete junk. I experienced a 100% failure rate with these right out of the box. I would hate to see how long one would last if it actually did work out of the box! On the Wells unit some people have said they were able to replace the cover with a Delco one to maintain a stock look. For everyones info that is no longer possible since they have begun to spot weld the cover on the new units. Keith
I believe I just drilled out the spotwelds, and then reused the factory screws. Anyway, glad you solved your problem. :TU:
Wanted to offer and expand on this info on this subject. I've had some external voltage regulator problems with my GS and bought a Year 1 Delco unit that checked defective on install as the generator light came and stayed on. (pricey at around $35.00!)After research and reading on this site about the Wells unit, I went to my local Auto Zone and purchased on for about $11.00 This unit as stated in this post doesn't appear factory original as it has a silver cover. Installed this piece and problem solved! I then took off the unit to look at the cover since I wanted to do as Al/ GSThunder did with his. The cover on my Wells VR was glued and it came off easily prying with a small flat tipped screwdriver. I then took off an original Delco black cover, placed it over the Wells internals for a template and drilled out for the screw holes. The covers are of same size and design. I then went back and ran a bead around the cover with black RTV. I'll be returning the Y1 Delco unit for a refund. Hope this info can help someone out.
usually,this is a ground problem,causing high resistance,making a false signal to the reg.if not,there is a LOT of crappy parts on the market.i can supply a QUALITY unit made in the USA:TU: price is $32.00 + shipping.be very leary of the cheap sh*t in the parts house.bottem line is...they double theyre cost and sell it to you.do you think they can buy a quality part for $4.95,mark it up,& sell it to you for$11.00?what kind of part do ya think they buy for $4.95,the manufacturer has HALF IF NOT LESS into producing this,so they can profit from it.come on folks,arent our BUICKS worth the good stuff ou: :TU: MINE SHURE IS:laugh:
Jamie Jamie, I never cut corners with $$ for my Buick but always insist on quality and a proven part by either word of mouth or personal experience. If the quality part is low priced, then that's icing on the cake but as we know, that correlation isn't always the norm! If the Wells VR 715 is cheap junk, then I suppose there's several dozen (hundreds??) of gullible suckers on this board that have made that purchase at around $11.00. What I do know, is that I did careful and tedious research on this subject of external voltage regulators and well as bought experience by getting many of the inferior quality VR's trying them out first hand and seeing they just weren't cutting it. That external VR category includes an Advance unit, NAPA, old Delco- Remy stocker, and a Year 1 reproduction. I also utlized the search button on this site and carefully looked throught the many threads in the database. It appears the Wells VR 715 works quite well for many! If your unit you are talking of is a good one, you may want to divulge more info/ particulars on it so we can consider it's performance and reliability as a viable purchase option. No, I'm definitely not cheap as I recently purchased a correct, restored and rebuilt date coded alternator for my GS at close to $200!! Anyway.... have a good one and God Bless!
Wells-I guess I just got lucky. Two weeks ago the battery in my car exploded under the hood. The exhuast was getting louder as I was going down the road. I stopped to see why and I happen to look over and one of the battery caps was laying loose on the battery. Continued home and put a different battery in because I that the battery was bad. The other battery was dead so I jumped the car and started to drive away when it blew!!:jd: Tested the regulator and it was putting out 16.61 above idle but only 13.8 at idle. Stopped at the new Auto Zone and picked up a Wells unit for $12 and it was perfect.
