I've noticed on maybe three occasions I've driven my 74 swinger (great condition, very low miles), that the dash lights seem dimmer than normal and the turn signals blink more slowly than they usually do. Barely perceptible, but noticeable to me.

Then, I'll look over at the alternator gauge, and the needle is reading nearly all the way to the left at the -40 side of the -40 to +40 gauge. One time after I noticed this going on, at a certain point driving, something changed and the alt gauge needle snapped back to the middle and the dash lites/signals became their normal brightness/flashing speed again.

When this has happened, I've played with all the eletricals to see if maybe it's something I flipped or turned on. Nothing seems to make a difference. It has always come back to normal if I've been driving the car, stop and later take off again.

What do people think is going on?

What's the condition and age of the battery? Could have a dead/dying/intermittent cell in it.

If it's not that, then I don't like this what you're describing in terms of "full discharge" behaviour, because it sounds to me like an intermittent high-current drain on the system.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

well truthfully, I don't know. Perhaps I should replace it.

it happened to me and was solved when i replaced the voltage regulator. I replaced the alternator first but the problem was not solved. it was not high usage it was no charge.

Thanks guys. I'll watch for this happening again, but I may eventually have it checked out.

I think I would pursue the problem right away. If indeed something is causing a 40 amp current drain... that is akin to a 480 watt light bulb. That kind of current = lots of heat, and I would hate to see you lose your car over an intermittently rubbing wire that burst into flames at some point.

Maybe I'm over-dramatizing... but many classic cars have gone up in flames over electrical issues. Solve the problem asap... and consider a battery disconnect switch until you do find it.

-Mac

Thanks. I'll look into it. Or I'll keep a fire extinguisher handy!

Thanks for the replies on this now-old post.

Ignored the problem and it went away/would come back intermittently over this now two year period. FINALLY, the problem came back and the Alt would not pop back up to charge. Battery ran down while driving (fortunately close to home) and the engine died. Realized I had to take action.

Took a gander at the voltage regulator as bluedart73 suggested, and it was the original 1974 voltage regulator that had the Pentastar logo with Chrysler MoPar on it. Realized it was probably bad being that old, so bought the $15 Duralast OE part from Autozone, popped it in, and hey presto! Problem solved, now battery is charging and she's driving fine.

Thanks to all for the advice for helping to solve the problem. Sorry it took me two years to do it! :shrug:

Good, but since you got the low-quality replacement part, you will want to go back and get a second one to keep in the glovebox for when the presently-installed one fails.

Now more than ever, it's crucial to buy good-quality parts, because the bad-quality end of the range is larger and poorer than it's ever been before.

Don't buy parts at AutoZone, if you can possibly help it.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

what's a good quality brand replacement part for this Dan? Didn't see many options when I did a parts search.

You could always make one............

http://www.slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic ... 228#133228

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Eatkinson- Standard VR125, Echlin VR38, adjustable heavy duty Transpo C3813. Or a new old stock American-made Chrysler unit (with Chrysler logo and everything!) from Old Car Parts Northwest.

Emsvitil- The car in question has a dual-field alternator, so while a single-field regulator could be made to work by grounding one field at the alternator, it'd be a step backwards and it would involve rewiring.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Are these brand names that can be counted on to be high quality all the time? It would be nice to know there are still some names you can trust across the board.
Checking the box of a (formerly) first-class brand name and seeing 'Made In China' seems to be the norm these days.

Nothing can be counted on in that manner any longer, when it comes to parts for obsolete cars. There is very little money in parts for obsolete cars; it is in the strong financial interest of every parts maker to have the smallest possible product line consistent with coverage of most of the on-road fleet. Our presence in the on-road fleet rounds down to zero; in general those parts that are not also used by newer models (or aren't for some other reason in high/brisk steady demand) are generally supplied as low-quality parts made on worn-out tooling and/or farmed out to low-cost countries. The new Proliance heater core I ordered in for my '73 Dart is a cheap-azz piece of useless garbage that's getting returned. New old stock is nice. And sometime demand rises in the old-car community such that nice parts become available from new sources. And sometimes you can still get good quality parts new off the shelf. And sometimes a part that would seem to warrant distrust (such as the Taiwanese headlamp switch that came in a new current-production Standard box) actually fit and work well.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.