I'm having a problem with my skylark. I just put in a new alt and volt reg. Sometimes in the morning I find the gen light glowing bright, it was out when I parked car the night before. Once I start it and turn off it's fine but will happen every few days. Seems my electrical woes started last year while jump starting a car, blew out my alt and volt reg. Then about once a month I kept blowing volt regs and car would run even after I turned off ignition (not preignition). I would have to step on emergency brake or put on turn signal to shut car off after turning key switch off. Finally it stopped after I changed from kem volt reg. I had even went so far as to replace both under hood wiring harnesses plus the neutral safety switch (was told that that was the ignition switch) on base of column. but problem persisted till like I said I went to a different brand of voltage reg. Now I have new alt and once again kem volt reg and now gen light is glowing when I go out to car in mornings. I stopped by an auto electrical place today and he said it is the ignition switch which is where key switch is and not the switch i changed at base of column. HELP please? What am I missing here?
For a long time I went through 2 or 3 regulators a summer. I find that the solid state regulators are crap. I much prefer the mechanical ones. this is only the second mechanical one I've used up, it lasted 4 years of 7+ months a year driving. I'm pretty sure if I had checked the voltage and adjusted it I wouldn't have had a problem. What brand regulator is it? Are you 100% certain that the alternator and regulator are correct for the car? Auto parts stores are notoriously poor sources of information regarding Buicks around here, I imagine it's similar in other places- I was once told by the 'old pro' at one of these places that I must be "Mickey Mousin' that car, because Buick never made a 455" I don't trust these guys to ever look up a part correctly and I don't take their word for anything just because "the book [or computer] says blah blah blah", because more often than not, they're wrong. What's the battery seeing for voltage when charging? if the GEN light is on with the car off, there is electricity somehow going through the regulator when it shouldn't. The light on full bright means a bad connection someplace, usually, but on full bright with the car off can only logically come from two sources- current passing through the ignition switch to the regulator somehow when the switch id "off", or a damaged or faulty regulator, as in my case. Can't see how current could be present otherwise if the rest of the wiring is sound and correct. I have a '70 Chassis manual here and I'll look this up later on tomorrow if I get a chance- I'm too tired right now to do much more than hit the reply button and shut off the computer before I pass out.
1970 Chassis Manual troubleshooting chart says for GEN light on, ignition "OFF", probable cause is Positive Diode [in the alternator] is shorted. here's what is says about description and operation (section 120-27 in manual II if you get your hands on a copy) of the Generator Light Indicator. Brackets indicate my comments or clarification: "The red "GEN" warning light should light when the ignition is turned "ON" and before the engine is started; if not lighted, either the bulb is burned out or the indicator light wiring has an open circuit. After the engine is started, the "GEN" light should be out at all times; if the light comes on, the generator belt may be loose or missing, the generator or regulator may be defective, or the charging circuit may be defective. To trace the generator indicator light circuit, see figure 120-18 [goes to an 18 ga. brown wire to the firewall, where it connects to the 18 ga. brown wire on the regulator's #4 terminal. Also at the same time, that first brown wire connects to a brown and white resistance wire that goes to the ignition switch] With the inition switch turned on (engine not running) current flow is through the ignition switch, through the generator light in the instrument cluster, in the "4" terminal of the regulator, through the lower contacts of the voltage regulator (held closed by the spring) [this is why mine failed- my lower contacts were welded together!], out the "F" terminal, in the "F" terminal of the generator, through the brush and slip ring,through the field, through another brush and slip ring to ground. Before the engine is started, the generator light should glow at about 1/2 brightness. this is because the voltage in the circuit before the light is about 12 volts, but the voltage at the "4" terminal after the light is about 5 volts. This makes the effective voltage across the generator light approximately 7 volts for about 1/2 brightness. After the engine is started, the voltage put out by the generator immediately closes the field relay. This causes battery voltage from the "3" terminal to be present at the "4" terminal. See figure 120-18. [shows a set of contacts in the regulator in the wiring diagram that if closed, directs current from "3" terminal to "4" terminal. "F" terminal wire is 16 ga. dark blue; "3" terminal is 10 ga. red. "F" and "2" (16 ga. white) go to alternator, or according to the Manual, the delcotron or generator] Since battery voltage is present on both sides of the indicator light, the light goes out. If the generator light comes on while the car is running, the charging circuit should be tested at the first opportunity to determine the cause of the trouble. See paragraph 68-9." So, most probale cause for your problem is either the positive diode in the alternator, or the regulator has a contact stuck if mechanical, else if it's electronic, it's shot.
problem solved Ok, I finally solved my electrical problem. Turns out the remanufactured alternator was bad. Once I replaced it, the gen light stopped turning on on its own with the key off.
