Voltage Regulator

Can anyone tell me if the voltage regulator is built into the alternator?
thanks in advance
cheers phil

Yeah they are.

Ring a auto sparky and see how much to strip it down and replace the reg.

Yeah was thinking maybe fitting an external reg
cheers phil

Never looked into it, anything is possible.

Manufactures use to use external regulators years ago.

Been through mud lately ?

nohasnt been off tar for 6months
cheers phil

The only other thing I can suggest it to work all the plugs and sockets coming from the alternator. If one of those has gotten dirty, it might be affecting the wire that feeds the voltage back from the battery for the regulator to sense.

Had it to auto elec today he reckons it is the battery on the way out
cheers phil

It would be if the alternator is cooking the battery.

The battery is the original and he reckons it is not holding its full charge and is making the alternator work harder. Dunno if i believe him or not he has got a good name around town so dunno which way to go
cheers phil

mottleemob said:

The battery is the original and he reckons it is not holding its full charge and is making the alternator work harder. Dunno if i believe him or not he has got a good name around town so dunno which way to go
cheers phil

Click to expand...

the reg should not be putting out 15.9 V or higher, thats that.
if you like talk to a batt maker/dealer and get some charging specs on batts.

for example...I have some deep cycle batts here that have DO NOT CHARGE ABOVE 14.1Vdc and are not suitable nor guaranteed if installed in the engine bay...hot enviro.

+1 on the maximum voltage. Google for "12v battery charge rate" yourself. Take a look at the Battery University page on charging batteries. Their maximum charge rate is 2.45V per cell (= 14.7V across the battery) and have a read of the warnings about gassing and topping up the fluid.

The first entry (Trickle Charging, Wikipedia) has an example of charging a 24V pack (which is just like a pair of 12V batteries in series). Each cell is charged at a maximum of 2.4V - that's 14.4V across 6 cells.

Charge the battery at too high a rate and you'll cook it fast. Your regulator should NEVER try killing the battery. Put someone else's (fully charged, good condition) battery in your truck and measure it again. You'll need a regulator.

Speaking of which, a Holden Commodore (1998) has a 120A alternator and an external regulator. You could always fetch one of those from a wrecker if you didn't want to replace your whole alternator.

Replace alternator all good
cheers phil