new alt, still flicker and flash

[silvercougar00]

Had the alt replaced because it died on me(well was damn close to it)

new alt's in, no flicker at low rpm's but when I hit 5500-6000 rpm battery light comes on and lights flicker for a sec. I tested the battery, it's fine, starters fine, alt's testing good......

any idea's

before replacing my lights would flicker all the time, and battery light would come on around 3000 rpm...is it a grounding issue possibly?

damn I just want the stupid car to run normal.....don't care if it's fast anymore....

[james99]

check your connections at the battery and make sure they are clean and tight. if thats not it maybe have your battery tested. it wouldnt hurt to look at the alt. connections too.

[Moraki]

The problem for me was the Voltage regulator plug (the 3 wire plug on the alt) was arcing... had to have that replaced.

[Cougarkid]

yep, had the same problem, was a connecter or plug? $30 part that ended up being quite pricey till we found the actual problem

[Moraki]

ya it was like 30 bucks from the dealer... they gave me the old one to look at ... the plug was made of blue pastic inside and you could see black marks all over it.

[MaverickFlyer]

I have the dimming light problem since I replaced mine. Never did that before! :(

[mond12345]

Belt slip?

[crazyoldcougar]

yeah my lights are dimming more post alt then they were prealt replacement...actually i had changed it twice in the last couple months first alt i got was bad..

[MaverickFlyer]

yeah my lights are dimming more post alt then they were prealt replacement...actually i had changed it twice in the last couple months first alt i got was bad..

That would really suck! :banghead:

Belt slip?

I have a gator back belt waiting to be installed but I don't think that is the problem.

[silvercougar00]

how hard would it be to change, and what's the part called?

I have a new belt on there, and I've noticed a slight flicker at idle. would the tsb about flickering lights help?

[MaverickFlyer]

how hard would it be to change, and what's the part called?

I have a new belt on there, and I've noticed a slight flicker at idle. would the tsb about flickering lights help?

The Alternator is a Biotch to change! :banghead:

[scrupul0us]

Heres the progression i went through...


No dimming or batt lights ->
Upgraded [-] and [+] wires and new batt ->
Wicked lights dimming ->
Rewire voltage regulator to the alternator instead of fuse box ->
No more issues and more/cleaner amp/volts to the car

I still get the occasional batt light when theres ALOT of water on the road but thats just belt slippage... gunna go gatorback when the belt needs to be replaced

[Moraki]

I still suggest against the supposed "alt fix" its one of the worst ideas for fixing a problem. Crossing your alt sensing wire to the alt out put sets the alt to the dead minimum. Your lights will be dim and its bad for you battery. Ammong other things.

[silvercougar00]

The Alternator is a Biotch to change! :banghead:


I was refering the the voltage regulator or whatever you said was buring out, I already have new alt in there(like the thread says)

the battery tests fine loads on and off.....

[scrupul0us]

I still suggest against the supposed "alt fix" its one of the worst ideas for fixing a problem. Crossing your alt sensing wire to the alt out put sets the alt to the dead minimum. Your lights will be dim and its bad for you battery. Ammong other things.
umm no it doesnt....lets think... the car puts load on the fuse box (Where the original wire is located) the fuse box puts load on the battery and that puts load on the alternator... either way that voltage wire is going to detect load... it if didnt then it wouldnt output anything (hence the no recharge issue associated with bad VR's and plugs)

my lights dont dim, my battery has never had an issue since it was replaced (replaced the original after 5 years)... my subs hit cleaner and overall my car runs nicer


have you even done the "Big 3" or is your "suggestion" based upon your opinion?

[Moraki]

I have no problem with upgrading the big 3.... the "alt fix" is the worst idea ever. And your completely wrong about detecting load...sorry but its detecting the amperage the millisecond that power is generated by the Alt.... so NO it is NOT detecting load. The system doesn't put a load on the Alt ... your understanding is totally flawed. The voltage regulator detects the load on the system. I'm sure you lights don't dim... I'm sure they don't flux at all they are at their dimmest setting so you wont ever notice the difference. I'm not saying its going to create problems with your battery but it WILL shorten the life of that battery. You did the big 3 upgrade to improve all the main wires, but when you do that hack job on the sensing wire your attempting to do an end around on the system and its just an awful idea. Why dont you do like you did with the rest of the system and install a better sensing wire?

[scrupul0us]

well ill give you the benfit of the doubt and take it to the shop tomorrow and have the amperage read... if it fluxes then obviously the "alt fix" worked for me... if not ill run a wire directly to the [+] of the batt

just seems to me that if the car we're running on the lowest amount of amperage possible then when my subs hit, with the lights on and the heat blower on full thered be some major power issues... but ill have the amp's read :)

[silvercougar00]

so anyways back to the problem at hand, how hard to replace the voltage regulator, and if the fix is proven to work how hard is it? I can't find the thread for it .

[Moraki]

Its as hard to replace the whole alt as the Voltage Regulator... Ron aka Excelcier told me once he knew of a better VR but i didnt get the info from him. If you want to know how hard it is.... please visit puckpuck.com and check out the alt replacement. Puckpuck has pictures and everything there on it. the VR is the crappy plastic part on the outside.

[Moraki]

Oh and its not totally about how much it fluxes its about how much it outputs. I guarantee if you took your car and another matching cougar ( with out the fix and with a good working alt) the other car would show stronger amperage.

[spyder44]

I had the exact problem; it was something to do with the alternator that I bought from AutoZone. I brought it back and had it tested but they only test it a low RPM, so it tested ok. Once it starts getting to the higher RPMs the voltage drops off. Take your alternator back to the store that you bought it from and have them exchange it.

I ended up taking my alternator out and putting it back in four times trying to find out what was going on with it.... But even now that I have an alternator that works, my lights, heat, and engine stutter when I accelerate. When I get on it hard it runs smooth as butter


-Dan