Are voltage regulators a problem with First Gens? My 91.5 seems to need one about every 12-15 K.

Tim

 

They're a problem on all old Dodges. Next time you buy one, get two and throw it under the seat with your extra fuel filter and serp.belt. You do have the extra belt and filter, don't you? Seriously, the VR's are not too reliable, but it may be worth it to go through all your major battery/alt connections..and remember, the VR grounds to the firewall...

 

where is the voltage regulator located?

 

Almost dirictly above the #6 valve cover...just slightly to the passenger side.

 

hmmm... ive never had to replace mine. (knock on wood) my factory charge gauge also doesn't work....

 

I alomst burnt my truck to the ground one day. Thoght I was smelling something funny on the way home one afternoon over the summer. Got out to find my battery on the verge of bursting! Didn't know weather to fight or flight, but I grabbed the offending battery and set it safely away from the truck till it could settle down. Put my RV battery (400 ca) in and it fired the truck right up! Put the volt meter across the batt terminals and it was charging at 19 volts! New regulator and battery solved that problem. Gauge in the factory cluster never moved. I'd like to put a volt meter in the dash, but I'm all out of room!

 

so if i smell acid burning i should pull over...?

 

One thing "good" is it takes just a couple of minutes to change and the gauge will give you plenty of warning, if you happen to notice anyway! I bought a different brand last time, Borg Warner I think it was vs. Napa. Serpentine belts break regularly also?

Tim

 

I found that the reman/knockoff vr's go really often. I hate to pay the dealer the rediculous price they charge for OEM vr, but I did, and it has lasted a year. Had one go, and had to get 3 more in 6 months before I broke down and went OEM.

 

that lil VR caused some damage to me last winter!

after getting home from a six month deployment in japan, i couldnt wait to drive my truck agian. but the alternator had dies on the wife the week before.
so i got it fixed! actually had the Les Shwabs ( tire center ) do it. install was free.

well driving home from work i get this BANG!
i was like SH^T, my motor or somthing blew. but every thing was driving good. i had to wait to pull over. i was on a two lane high way, with 5pm traffic. next thing i knew my winshield wipers were on SUPPER SPEED. and the light in the dash got real bright, and BLACK smoke started coming from my speedo, witch in 5 secounds just gained 23,000 miles . finially a driveway to pull into. all in all it was only like a 1/4 mile from the explosion till i go stoped, had no choice, it was 4 foot ditch fora shoulder.
well as i pull into this drive way, pop! pop! pop! all the light start blowin, and fuses. i shut it down right there!
get out and pop the hood. my battery has a hole in it the size as a soft ball, and the battery cables were smokin, not to mention my insturment cluster with BLACK SMOKE coming from it.
the cause? bad alternator! got it bench tested, and was over charging. needless to say i didnt have to pay for any repairs. i did them. but was paid for the parts. got the new alternator in there, replaced every buld on the out side of the truck, new gauge cluster, all new fuses, new battery, new VR, new battery cables and terminals, and some other wires. and then, i was still getting 18-19 volts! pulled the VR, exchanged it for a new one. same thing. pulled the alternator. got it bench tested. checked good. called some folks. got some advise. ended up running a seperate ground wire from the the VR to the alternator. and then 14 volts right on the money. took it to a shop to have evey thing checked to just make sure. the owner said that was te darndest thing with the extra ground wire. with the VR grounded good he unhooked the extra gound and got 19 volts, hooked it back up and got 14 volts.
never had a propblem sence then. the PO told me that he had gone threw two VR's so i dont know.
the worst was cleaning the fire extinguisher from under my dash. i wasnt going to let my truck burn up!

 

I had the sulfer smell and 100000 deg battery about to burst as well... however I replaced my VR and still 18-19 volts, then I replaced the alternator, fixed.

 

o ya mine smelt real bad after it blew .

papecat. what kind of aircraft do u work on?

Bob

 

I have had this problem too, good thing to do when you repl. VR, check for AC voltage at Alt. output. more than .2VAC means bad diodes which will burn up as many voltage regulators as you want to throw at it.

 

tfarm, when I worked for dodge in 88-92 we had ALOT of problems with the voltage regulators burning up, What we finally came up with that solved almost all of the probs, is just run a ground strap from one of the bolts on the regulator to one of the intake neck bolts---(make sure you sand paint off the firewall behind regulator and also where you attach it to the intake neck)
You could put it somewhere else, that was just easy, and the straps we had in the parts room were the right length for that local

 

matt ,

thats what i did to mine, worked like a charm!
but while u worked for dodge, did you ever figure out why it was like that?
maybe not a good enough ground around the fire wall?

Bob