davecampbell34
New Member
- Joined
- May 10, 2022
- Messages
- 7
I have had an 87 gn for about a year now. I brought it from FLA to CA. Won on eBay, and been very happy with it. But….. since I’ve gotten it, I’ve been chasing this electrical gremlin since time of purchase. I’ve gone thru multiple new alternators (3) and batteries (3).
The issue at the moment is that my voltage regulator inside the alt does not work after a lengthy drive, that's what I believe anyways. I’ve taken two alt into autozone (one that is currently being used and one I believed to have been "cooked" or ruined by the gremlin) and had them test them. The test for the one previously inside, came back that it was indeed “broken” or defective. The current one I’m using the test came back fine. Note: they didn’t give me any paperwork for those two tests. So I put that good alt back in, picked up a new battery and everything was going ok. Till I took a lengthy drive of about 45-50min round trip.
Getting close to my house on the return trip, my voltage light came on in the dash, and it sounded like the car started to run lean. It didn’t sound like itself normally but wasn't something super noticeable. I got back to my house, and when I opened up the hood the battery was sweating. I checked the voltage meter and the battery was in the high 16v. You could smell the acid inside was cooking.
I’ve ran a few different tests for parasitic draws, and they come back that I don’t have one except! That sometimes when I test with the light, it will surge the light dimly, I’ll clear the test and do it again, and it will show no signs of a parasitic draw.
I’ve looked for “volt blasters” that I’ve read on some forums that could be the cause of this, but I haven’t found a volt blaster attached anywhere near the alt. It seems there’s a possible ground somewhere that could be shorting out? but I don’t understand why my voltage regulators are continually going out. Something seems to be “cooking” the batteries? Idk. I come from a long line of assemblymen in Detroit but they never passed shit onto me. So a lil amateurish in my mechanical skills, but willing to learn but also willing to accept my limitations.
If this problem is too big for myself I’m also interested if anyone knows a good tech mechanic around LA that doesn’t have too long of a waitlist? I see everyone recommended Lou on previous posts but I’d rather not tow it to Long Beach, and I think that might just be too far for me to drive with the risk of blowing up my battery and myself. Anyways, any help would be much appreciated. Been a fan of this site for the last year and gotten much help in other areas. Thanks
Dave
The issue at the moment is that my voltage regulator inside the alt does not work after a lengthy drive, that's what I believe anyways. I’ve taken two alt into autozone (one that is currently being used and one I believed to have been "cooked" or ruined by the gremlin) and had them test them. The test for the one previously inside, came back that it was indeed “broken” or defective. The current one I’m using the test came back fine. Note: they didn’t give me any paperwork for those two tests. So I put that good alt back in, picked up a new battery and everything was going ok. Till I took a lengthy drive of about 45-50min round trip.
Getting close to my house on the return trip, my voltage light came on in the dash, and it sounded like the car started to run lean. It didn’t sound like itself normally but wasn't something super noticeable. I got back to my house, and when I opened up the hood the battery was sweating. I checked the voltage meter and the battery was in the high 16v. You could smell the acid inside was cooking.
I’ve ran a few different tests for parasitic draws, and they come back that I don’t have one except! That sometimes when I test with the light, it will surge the light dimly, I’ll clear the test and do it again, and it will show no signs of a parasitic draw.
I’ve looked for “volt blasters” that I’ve read on some forums that could be the cause of this, but I haven’t found a volt blaster attached anywhere near the alt. It seems there’s a possible ground somewhere that could be shorting out? but I don’t understand why my voltage regulators are continually going out. Something seems to be “cooking” the batteries? Idk. I come from a long line of assemblymen in Detroit but they never passed shit onto me. So a lil amateurish in my mechanical skills, but willing to learn but also willing to accept my limitations.
If this problem is too big for myself I’m also interested if anyone knows a good tech mechanic around LA that doesn’t have too long of a waitlist? I see everyone recommended Lou on previous posts but I’d rather not tow it to Long Beach, and I think that might just be too far for me to drive with the risk of blowing up my battery and myself. Anyways, any help would be much appreciated. Been a fan of this site for the last year and gotten much help in other areas. Thanks
Dave
