Signs of bad Voltage Regulator??

6

61special

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I've asked a question about the voltage regulator before, but this is a new one.

I have a 1961 Buick Special w/an external voltage regulator.

I pulled the thing out this past week to inspect if it was in-tact, cause i've not been able to get any power thru to the coil to give any kinda spark.

Inside the cover of the voltage regulator it looks like brand new with it's red wire wrapped around itself a whole bunch (yes, i made sure i didn't touch any of it).

So now I ask if the things are bad, is there a visible sign that it is bad, or do you just have to replace it and get on with it?

One more question while i'm here... what won't work on the car if the v.regulator is bad??? Looking for symptoms.

Thanks,
Mike.
 
No spark or power to the coil is not related to the voltage regulator.

I am not familiar with your car!

First is your battery charged? From here your power will go to your ignition switch, probably through your starter relay, then to your coil. Your ignition switch will supply voltage to two wires on the + side. One wire will have low voltage in the run position, the other, full voltage in the start position.
 
FYI with a bad regulator, you'll either get too much charging or no charging.

If you don't have voltage at the coil, you should probably be searching elsewhere.

What is the problem that you're trying to chase? A non-starting car?

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org
 
Yep, non-starting car would sum it up.

The thing has been sitting since 1986, without being started. Unfortuantly, my electrical skills are not too strong, so i have to ask questions about these kinds of things all of the time.

Here's a brief rundown...

It's a 215ci V8, 2barrel carby. All stock.

Using a full size battery, fully charged, the car will crank and turn over, but very slowly, and sometimes, it won't even do that much, it'll just click.

When it was cranking at its' best, it was not producing spark from the coil. I have replaced the coil and plug leads, and visually checked the wires that run from the intersection of the voltage regulator to the alternator and to the coil, and it all seems fine. All of the plugs are in great condition too.

All of the car's accessories work just fine, all except the engine. The power is running thru all of the interior parts and headlights and all that stuff.

When the car was last used, it started up fine (aparently) and there were no real problems with it.

I had an idea today that maybe the starter motor is not as solid as it once was (maybe needs new solenoid, or wiring). If the starter was not cranking the engine "enough" would spark have a chance to be produced from the coil? Or does the coil produce the spark from the ignition?? I guess i'm asking if the engine has to be turning/cranking at a certain speed for spark to be produced. It just seems like the car has the right amount of power for everything except for the starter to turn the engine nice and strong.

Is it worth the mess to pull out the starter and have it checked, or would that waste some time?

Big questions, hopefully someone can help out.

Thanks,
Mike.

P.S. At least I have the entire braking system to clean out and re-build while i figure out the engine stuff. Pretty much done now with the brakes, so getting anxious to hear the roar of the 140hp!!! (Yes, i'm being sarcastic towards the small-block)
 
Before worrying about the ignition too much, the cranking speed complaint is suspicious and should be fixed. Cranking speed is not related to the ability to produce a spark. Maybe carefully check your grounds. Being as the car sat, check the connections at the other (not battery) end. One way to check is to bypass the leads with jumper cables. BE CAREFULL!!! Don't short things out! If you don't get the cranking speed up, then you might have a look at the starter motor.
 
Slow cranking is definately an issue. Remember that since that engine hasn't run in so long, there is no oil left anywhere in the engine- you should prime the oil pump and circulate some oil through that engine before you try to crank it again IMO. That will also make the first few seconds of run time much less traumatic on the engine as well.

If you are still cranking slowly after priming the oil system, then have a look at the starter motor and wires. It wouldn't surprise me if the brushes are corroded- DC motors are "self cleaning"- when they have a lot of current run through them, it keeps the brushes & collector ring clean. If they aren't run for a long period, they can corrode & oxidize.

Have you filled the carb with gasoline?

After all of that, you have to fall back to basics. An engine needs 2 things to run- fuel and spark. If the carb is full of fuel and the pump is pumping, then you just gotta go through the ignition system until you find the problem. A simple test to see if each cylinder is firing is to put a timing light probe on each individual spark plug wire (it won't match up with the timing mark, but at least you'll know if the individual cylinders are firing). You can also put the probe on the primary coil wire.

Keep up posted...

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org

Did the timing slip?
 
I'll need some instruction of priming the oil pump. Never done that before....

I'm very close to wanting to pull out the starter and check it out. Corrosion sounds very possible. I've found a good bit of corrosion in some aluminum parts in the wheel cylinders, but it all cleaned off.

This info is becoming very helpful. Thanks to everyone.

Mike.
 
...PS. I can't even begin to check the timing and spark to cylinders until i get some spark at the coil, which i don't have any of right now.

I really think the starter is a problem and the lack of oil throughout the engine is not helping either.

Mike.
 
Wow, oil priming really looks easy.... NOT.

Seems like a few steps were missing in the write up in the article. He doesn't give the main objective of the tool, not that i can tell. It seems like it wants to turn the oil pump, but he's been very descriptive on how to do this, that i really don't understand.

I guess that's it. Turn the oil pump alone as fast as you can to get the oil to piss up all over the rockers, right?

I can definitely see how all of this could be beneficial before it really starts, but it would only take a second for the engine to do all of this once it does start for just a splutter, right??

I need to find a diagram of all internal engine parts, like oil pumps, for my car.

Thanks Bob.

Mike.
 
Slick 50 used to claim that 90% of engine wear took place when you start your engine.

Without oil in the engine, not only will it be difficult to crank, but you'll be scraping metal-on-metal which will accelerate wear dramatically. If you could start your engine right up, it would probably be 5 - 10 seconds before your engine got enough oil that I'd be comfortable. 10 seconds of running without oil makes me cringe, let alone all the cranking that you are doing in the meantime just to get it to fire up.

The purpose of priming is to fill up the oil pump and the rest of the oil passages, and get oil flowing through the parts of the engine that would be scraping.

It is a bit of a hassle, and honestly if you took the lazy route and just went after the ignition problem, I'd understand. But I'd want you to be 100% sure the engine would fire up quickly next time you go to crank it- make sure the ignition is working and the carb has enough fuel to fire up quickly.

-Bob Cunningham
bobc@gnttype.org
 
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