My voltage regulator went in the truck. I tested everything, battery, alternator, VR, and the VR was bad. Put a new one on, and went for a drive and was reading 18+volts. Had that one tested and it was bad. Went and got another one (tested good at the store) just put it on and it is reading over 17 volts! Any idea why I keep blowing them??

 

An update...just had the new VR checked and it is fine. Why would I be reasing 16.9+ on the voltmeter then? I think I just didn't give the new VR time to blow up. Any ideas? How much would running an extra ground help?

 

Probably. Run a ground wire from the reg. to the engine, and make sure the negative battery cable terminals are clean on both ends.

 

Go ahead and reloate it from the blast furnace above the manifold. I relocated the VR in my 91, and had no more issues with it.

The ground is also a good idea. And, dont rely strictly on the OEM gauge- it is there for patterns and trends, and not that reliable. Mine reads 12-13volts, but has 14 at the battery.

I had a hard time getting a decent VR from a parts store- went through about 6 of them in one year. I had resigned to getting one from Dodge if the last one didnt last. When I sold it, it was about 4mo old, and I had had good luck with it.

Daniel

 

If that is a NipponDenso alternator, you might want to try that Transpo VR that I posted the "How To" on last week.

BTW, Daniel, thanks for the tip on the boot for the Getrag. Worked great. O'Reilly even sent me a ball cap with it.

Jim

 

The extra ground to the engine block solved the problem, thanks everyone