19 volts on the battery

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trudysduster

trudysduster

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Tyler drove the Dart yesterday for the first time this year. Said he heard a bubbling noise coming from the battery when he shut it off. Checked the voltage on the battery with engine off and it was14 V. started car and the voltage on battery was 19 V. I am going to assume the regulator is bad first. maybe a gnd problem there. Worked fine when he parked it. here we go again. new year, new problems. I hate parking a car for the winter.
 
yep i would go with the regulator, mine went out in the fall and was putting out about 20volts, kept smelling rotten eggs(sulfur). also have your battery checked, mine was at 40% because it got overcharged.
 
I would bet on the regulator. But before you do a knee Jerk change of the regulator, check to make sure that it's properly grounded. These problems are why I am changing over from an amp gauge to a voltage gauge. I am also installing relays for my headlights And running a 10 gauge wire from the starter relay to the alternator.
 
you may have wrong alternator or one field shorted. pull regulator plug loose. start car see if it charges (should not)

regulator may not be grounded.
 
dodger, couldn't have the wrong alternator. worked fine for the past couple of years. parked it in the fall and now this. unless someone uncovered the car and changed it for me. ground problem, maybe. But I will bet it is the VR.
 
Bill , if you just painted the engine bay, I would say , unless you scraped paint , that there is not sufficient metal on metal for the VR to have a good ground. sometimes I like to slightly over tighten the mounting bolts so the threads mesh real well. I also like to scrape any paint between the VR and the firewall (inconspicuously), as well as around the bolt holes on the VR. I would check all the grounds and scrape where necessary, battery to block, block to firewall. you are looking for around 13.8 to 14.2 across the battery , and 0 to 0.2 from the VR to the battery (ground) when the car is running.
 
VR was put in after the engine bay was painted. Ran it for a year with no problems. I put a new VR on and it is fine now. just less than 15 V on the battery running at a fast idle. sometimes these new VR don't like sitting over the winter outside. I picked up a new one and a new ballast resistor to go in the tool box as a spare. How did we get by back in the day. Thanks
 
I had a poorly grounded regulator that caused the same symptoms. I smelled the battery and burned out a bunch of bulbs when I turned the headlights on. Battery acid splattered onto my drivers side valve cover and Leanna had a devil of a time getting powder coat to stick. tmm
 
Near 15V is a bit high, can still cook a battery long term with that. If you measure between ballast supply (IGN1) and battery terminal you can find the drop in bulkhead connector, ammeter ignition switch and wiring.
IGN1 is the reference for the voltage regulator. It likely measures about 13.8V, but the alternator is putting out a higher voltage at the battery, with the voltage drops in between. Reducing the drops, gets battery voltage correct.
 
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