Electrical/ Alternator

[Night Shadow <soltwede@ucsub.colorado.edu>]

Hey guys, wanted to share an experience and some interesting info!


So the other night my radiator fan switch took a dump and shorted
internally, fan ran for several hours, eventually killing my battery.

After jumping starting the car, I decided to check my alt output as it
seemed low, found that even when charging, it was only putting out 13.2
volts at the battery....this was bad I thought...so I figured with some of
the recent noises my alt had been making, and the fact that it had a year
old voltage regulator (bosch) that is was time for a rebuilt unit.
Checked around, and had a local shop recommended to me (been there for 30
years) called Auto Electric by Vanatta.  Went over there ($145 for a Bosh
unit rebuilt by them) and they started checkin out my specs and asking why
I needed a new alt.  So it turns out that I was loosing a half volt
between my alt and bat, no biggie, new wires go on tomorrow, and then,
they said, hey, you've got a new Bosch regulator on there huh? I said yes,
and they said that the Bosch regulators were always quite limited on
purpose because of the "weaker" batteries available in europe....he took
the regulator off and tested it, sure enough the max voltage that
regulator would allow was 13.5!  So...$40 later, I walked out of there
with a different brand regulator (rated to 14.5-14.7) a new wire to run to
the batter directly from the alt, and a smile on my face....first time a
shop talked me out of a more expensive purchase, and they helped me
diagnose the problem.  That place has earned my future business and I
recommend it to any Boulder/Denver locals!

I'll post my results of the upgrades tomorrow!

Eric



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