Question-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
I have checked the alternator and it is putting out the proper voltage, but the gauge on the dash shows that I am not charging and after running the car for 15 minutes, the battery will not turn over the starter. The voltage regulator is about 1 year old. The car has worked fine for 2 seasons. Then, the other day, we had a large sudden downpour that lasted for about 20 minutes and the car was out in this downpour. When I went out to start the car, it started fine. When I beeped the horn, (a "Dixie" horn) the horn would not stop and I had to disconnect it. I then took the car for a ride and noticed that the guage on the dash said the car was no longer charging.
Answer -
I'm not really sure what you are asking here, but I guess you are wondering what the horn problem has to do with it? If you disconnected the horn at the horn relay, it matters which wire you pulled. If you pulled the "B" wire, that's fine, but if you pulled the "H" wire, then the relay was still drawing current and would have drained the battery.
I don't understand how you started the car after that, but I'm going to guess you jump started it. If that is the case, you very possibly blew the voltage regulator. The only safe way to start a car with a dead battery is to exchange the battery for one that is charged. Jumping it often does damage to either the alternator or the voltage regulator,sometimes to both the dead car and the donor car, especially if you left the donor car running.
If you measured the voltage from the alternator, I'd like to know what you measured. The right voltage is different for different conditions, but if you had a discharged battery, you should have measured at least 15 volts at the alternator terminal. If you did, then the battery terminals are probably dirty, loose or oxide coated. Try disconnecting the battery cables from both posts and cleaning both the inside of the terminals and the posts with a battery cleaning brush.
If this doesn't cure your problem, I think you should take the car to a parts store like Auto-Zone or Advance Auto parts and get them to diagnose it for you. That will not cost you anything, and you'll get a good idea as to what you should replace or clean up.
Dick
Dick: Thanks for your quick response! I went out and disconnected both wires at the horn relay and there was no change.
I'm sorry that I was not specific enough with my first question. My question is:
The charging system on my car shows a discharge on the dashboard guage.
#1: I have taken the alternator to have it checked and it is putting out the proper voltage and current
#2: I have replaced the voltage regulator
#3: The ground strap APPEARS is good shape
#4: I have disconnected both wires of the horn relay as you suggested.
Still the car does not appear to be charging. I ran the car for 15 minutes to make sure it was not just a bad guage. The battery became so low that it would not restart the car. So, it appears I am running only on battery power.
Any more suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
Gary
AnswerOK, we still are not sure if this is a failure to charge the battery, or if it is a poor connection somewhere.
Certainly, a healthy charged battery will run the car for way more than 15 minutes and still be able to restart the car many times, so I have a suspicion that your problem may be in the starter or the connections to it, unless you are using a battery that is really shot and can only start the engine one time!
To sort this out, restart the engine (however you are doing it, but preferably by using a fully charged battery from another car) and with the engine idling, momentarily disconnect one of the battery cables from the battery. If the engine stalls immediately, we have proven that the alternator is not charging the battery. If the engine keeps running with no connection to the battery, we know the alternator is working fine.
If the conclusion is that the alternator is not working (which I suspect from all you've said), there are only a few possibilities here. Since you are certain the alternator is good, and the voltage regulator is new and presumably good also, the only thing left to investigate is the wiring in the car. These cars have a bulkhead connector on the firewall that is famous for developing a poor connection as the cars get older, especially if you live where there are wet seasons. This connector is to the left side of the steering column, down low below the brake booster, on the firewall. It probably has 3 or 4 separate sections, with about 16 pins in each section.
This is a multi-pin connector (typically about 40 pins) and one or more of those can develope a coating of crud on the contacts that will drive you nuts until you take the connector apart and clean all the contacts, using a fine sandpaper, or a pencil eraser, whatever you can get at the contacts easily with. These often will cure themselves by shaking the wiring harness next to the connector, but it will go bad again when you can least tolerate it, if you don't take the time to clean the contacts.
Inspect all the other wires involved with the charging circuit, such as the 3 wire plug on the regulator, the wires on the alternator, the wires on the ammeter etc. You'll just have to keep looking until you find the bad connection. I still think you are probably going to have to find someone with the right test equipment to track this down - for instance an Auto Electric repair shop.
Good Luck,
Dick
