Mike Brichta Posted November 13, 2002 Share Posted November 13, 2002 I just finished an 8-month process of repairing the body and repainting my 70 monte. Nothing was done to the engine or in the engine compartment. I removed the front end and fenders, painted them and put them back. When I started the engine to check things out, all was well. Then after about 15 minutes, the ALT light came on. After checking everything that I could think of, I removed the cover of the voltage regulator and noticed that the metal arm where the points are located was "burned" off. The piece was inside the cover. Of well, it probably needed to be replaced any way. So I picked up a new Delco-Remy GM Voltage Regulator and put it on. When I started the engine, light went off and voltmeter showed a charge of about 15 volts. Great I thought. Then after about 10 minutes, thge light came on again. When I pulled the cover off of the voltage regulator, the same thing happened again. I have never seen this before. At $52 per voltage regulator, I don't want to guess wrong again. Any suggestions/ideas? Thanks in advance!!! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hansen Posted November 13, 2002 Share Posted November 13, 2002 I would check out the body grounds 1st. While yer at the store for another voltage regulator have them check your alternator, overspray & bondo dust are real hard on alternators. Bob ------------------ 1944 GPW Army Jeep 1964 Buick Riviera- For Sale 1970 Monte Carlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 14, 2002 Share Posted November 14, 2002 i recently had the same problem with my car but i didn't pay 52$ per voltage regulator though. i paid maybe 12.00 but anyway i wasn't burning up the regulator that bad but you might want to check the diode on the alternator and the nut on the back of the alternator where the power wire attaches to make sure that it is not loose if so then the alt can be shorting out causeing the burnt up regulator. i also put a bigger ground wire from bat to alt bracket i used a 1gage and also grounded the bat right to the body. if ones bad it causes the other to go bad (alt, reg) so if you replace the bad one which in your case is the regulator it might have caused the diode to go bad so when you replaced the regulator it didn't last cause now the alternator is bad. or it could of been the alternator went out to begin with and it caused the regulator to go. either way the regulator and the alternator are on the same team and if one quits they both might. also your battery may be bad now. it may have dried up a cell. so check that too. make sure who ever checks your alternator checks it for everything cause i took mine to car quest and they said it was good then i took it to advance auto and they tested it as a bad diode. also theres two ways to check the alternator you can take it off and take it in or you can leave it on the car with a charged battery and test the whole system while its running. which is what i recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brichta Posted November 18, 2002 Author Share Posted November 18, 2002 Ok, so here is an update on my voltage regulator burn-out problem. I have been working on cars for many years, but have never come across this one. My problem was that I was burning up voltage regulators. After posting here and asking around, this is what has transpired. I cleaned all of the existing ground wires and installed a few extra ones. I had the alternator checked and was told it was fine. I decided to replace it anyway, just in case the test results were bogus. I cleaned and checked every wire under the hood and all seemed fine. With a new alternator, new voltage regulator and all wires cleaned and checked, Iwas sure the problem was gone. But within a few minutes of starting the car, I burned up my third voltage regulator. I was about to go balistic. Instaed of purchasing yet another voltage regulator, I rigged up a wire that I could see across the contacts that kept burning out. That way, I could see the wire get hot and remove the ground before the wire burnt up. I spent 3 hours testing everything I could think of, but could not solve the problem. I was about to start replacing the wiring harness, but decided to make a list of everything that may have changed in the car to cause the problem. I then remembered that I purchased a new battery for the car about three weeks ago. It never gave me any trouble so I never thought about the battery. Alas, when I switched it with another battery, all of the problems went away. I still can't believe that by purchasing a new battery, I caused all of these problems, but that what fixed it. The battery still starts the car fine and has never caused me any problems. I'll be off to the battery place tomorrow to get a new one and to try to convince them that they caused me almost $300 in new voltage regulators, a new alternator and now a new battery. Do you think I have a chance to convince them? Mike P.S. Thanks to all of you who gave me suggestions!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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