Got my '72 Electra out of a 7 year storage about 2 months ago. Put in a new battery at the time. I've put a couple hundred miles on since then, and have noticed water dripping from the front of the car. Upon further inspection, found the battery to be dry. While runnning, I found the charge voltage to be 17v. The alternator was upgraded to an internal regulator AC/Delco rebuild shortly before the car was stored. I already purchased another rebuilt AC/Delco unit, but was wondering if I should check anything else before installing it. Seems like a prematire failure of the alternator, or could it be due due a faulty starter or cable?
Hi Mitch. Had the same problem with my rebuild alternator. I just changed the regulator, and had no problems since. (New parts can also fail). The 17 volt would cause your battery to overheat, and the water in your acid would evaporate, causing a dry battery. Fill up with destilated water only. I am more conserned about your water leak, that could not be from your battery. Check your coolant level. You might have a hose or water pump leakage after the storage. Per. :beer :beer
grounds hey mitch,clean all your ground connections.batt to block,frame to body,block to frame.aany loose conection will give a high reading.chances are on a 30+ yearold car,you have a couple.also check and clean the batt conection at the back of the alternator.if this all checks out,have the alt checked.if you boiled the batt dry,and the new alt is doing the same thing,chances are a connection problem.
Thanks for the info. When I put the new alt in, I added a big fat 1' ground wire bolted on the back of the alt, to the front of the block. I haven't yet checked the other connections at the starter and junction block. The other funny thing is the idiot light never came on (it does work).
more boring reading,get a life!!! oh wait,i wrote it ! :grin: the idiot light will only come on with a neg to pos circuit(open or grounded diode-open reg,grounded field wire)the pos is started at the ignition switch thru the light to the reg and grounds thru the alt.when the system starts to charge,the alt becomes pos and you loose the ground to the alt,which turns off the light.if it is overcharging,the light will not be affected :eek2: thats why so many people dont like dummy lights.if it comes on with the key on,and goes out when running,its not the alt.ground problems are the #1 problem of overcharging,i mean when was the last time you climbed under a car to see if the star lockwasher at the frame to block/body had corroded to the point of rusting off,and making only a partial conection.it is common practice for tranny shops to toss the ground strap during an r&r for some reason.much more fatal on newer cars :spank:
