Screwed up electrical system...

[NJack2AF 10+ year member]

Okay here's the story. I had a yellow top and a 220 amp HO alt from EA installed like a month or 2 ago. The other night I was driving home from work and bumpin, not loud at all just driving a long with the music playing at a low volume. I had noticed previously that my lights had been brighter than usual, including the interior ones... Suddenly the music cut off, my climate control module turned off, and my lights went out. The notice center had been saying check charging system (it says that when the system is not maintaining a steady or safe voltage), and it had been saying check exterior lamps (obviously my head lights). The dash lit up with the Anti-Lock Brake system light and the Air Bag light. I was pretty pissed... I did some checking it out and my distro block has a voltmeter in it and it ussually measures in the low 14's at idle. And tops around 14.7 around 2k rpms. I discovered that it was now measuring 15.9v at idle and it wouldn't measure it when I revved the rpms. The car does this on and off now and I took the headlights out and they are fried. The climate control module will turn on when it is idling but as soon as the rpms go over 1k it cuts off. What do you guys think it is? Perhaps the voltage regulator?

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[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like the voltage regulator, yes - sounds like it has gone on the blink and is allowing excessive voltage into the system.

Voltages over 16v going into gear not designed for it generally doesn't yield positive results //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[Rattlebrain 10+ year member]

Could be the reg.

I had an alt. that the brush assembly broke and the brush was laying sideways on the stator. It was overcharging big time. I changed the brush assemble, Diode trio and reg out and worked like a champ again. About $35 worth of parts vs. $100 something alt. It was an older GM by they way.