Headlights oscillating

brightness cycles

checked out before installing a new one? They ain't cheap.

OK, will check it tonight. Yesterday while idling during the day, I noticed the ammeter oscillating. If I kicked the gas and released it, the oscillation stopped. Will check the belt also.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney
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Uncle Monster posted for all of us...

dlights on dim and engine warmed up and idling, the brightness cycles from normal to slightly dim. Cycle time is around a second. When I rev the eng ine slightly, they return to normal steady brightness.

enter, slightly charging, in the normal position.

and cleaned all the battery connections, including regulator and other par ts when I was fixing a grounding issue.

speed motor which moves the throttle as needed like when the AC is switche d on and the idle speed increases. I'd pull the air cleaner so I could see the throttle body to see if the throttle is being moved by the idle speed c ontrol motor. The engine control computer could be affected by a dirty mass air flow sensor which could cause the idle speed fluctuation. (¬?¬)

assumed it was built in this century. ¯\_(?)_/¯

Bingo, it could be his garden tractor.

Reply to
Tekkie®

You're definitely wrong about that. Atlternators made their first showing in large numbers maybe in 1965 or about then and all of them had relay-based regulators, with two of them, for several years. Then some had relay-less regulators within the alternators, but they made cars with both styles for a while.

I guess I was forgetting sold-state regulators and assuming no matter what year his car is, he had relays. My mistake. (I don't know if they ever made external soldi-state regulators.)

Reply to
micky

Maybe you were thinking about the diodes in the alternator**. If they had had to depend on diode tubes, whether glass or metal, instead of semi-conductor diodes, I don't think alternators would have been possible.

**For the youngun's here, if there are any, generatos had a commutator and generated DC current. Alternators had two rings for the two brushes, no commutator, and generated alternating current, hence the name, and used diodes to turn it into DC.
Reply to
micky

There are no relays in toda's regulators. They are all electronic. Some regulate the feild with a PWM, others just switch resistance like the old relat type.

Generators needed to control maximum current as well as maximum voltage, AND disconnect from the battery when not charging(cutout) so the generator didn't "motor" and draw all the power out of the battery

Reply to
clare

Not quite since they were invented - but shortly after. Alternators became standard in the early sixties, and Ford and GM were still using electromechanical regulators on their alternator systems up to 1978-79. Mazda still used some as late as at least 1981 and Toyota untill 1986. Chrysler used then till about 1979.

Reply to
clare

My dad's radio in his '60 Caddy had tubes...great sound for the time.

Reply to
bob_villa

...and before silicon we had selenium:

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Reply to
bob_villa

In which case it might have neither a generator nor alternator, but instead a magneto.

Reply to
TimR

Sorry if I missed it, but can an alternator be tested with a VOM?

Last time I had the auto parts place test one, they pinpointed the alternator. Bought it, had a mechanic check it out, also said it was the alternator, they replaced it and 2 weeks later same problem. Turned out to be bad connections. Big unnecessary expense.

Would rather TS it myself as much as I can.

"Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com... This just started.... or at least I just noticed it. With the headlights on dim and engine warmed up and idling, the brightness cycles from normal to slightly dim. Cycle time is around a second. When I rev the engine slightly, they return to normal steady brightness.

When running with or without lights, the ammeter is just right of center, slightly charging, in the normal position.

I don't suspect a connection -- within the last 2 months, I removed and cleaned all the battery connections, including regulator and other parts when I was fixing a grounding issue.

Battery cranks start just fine. No other indications of failing battery.

Thanks folks,

Snuffy

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

Sorry I couldn't see your picture. Photobucket web page tried to run potentially dangerous scripts from 6 different websites. Fuck that!

Reply to
nobody

snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca posted for all of us...

And don't forget to "pulverize" it when installing!

Reply to
Tekkie®

Error: Unable to find site's URL to redirect to.

These preview pages are annoying anyhow. They just mean I have to wait two times, at least twice as long,

i don't have any trouble with full length urls, no matter how long they are. If t hey wrrap or if they wrapped and were quoted wrapped, I click on reply and delete the extra line feeds and > characters.

I understand while some people want them but if you coudl include the real url too that would be best.

Reply to
micky

formatting link

Reply to
bob_villa

I think this worked better this time, but for complicated reasons, I'm not sure.

Thanks.

Reply to
micky

I'd get after the grounds, battery to engine, engine to firewall, headlights to radiator support, combination grounds to intake manifold, etc, etc.

Reply to
Windell Stiefer

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