I just went out and looked at mine--there's a braided strap running from the VR to an exhaust manifold bolt. How bout that!

 

90Dodge---look at one that no one has fooled with and there is NO--that's right--NO, ground from body to engine anywhere. Seems the boys of DC could have figured that one out---I guess thats why us line techs made the big buck---yeah right!!!

 

just now saw this thread, i've got this question in my other one. i've replaced the voltage regulator and ran a 14 gauge groud wire directly to the groud that the alternator uses. at idle i am still reading 18-20 volts before the fusible link at idle and about 40 volts at 3/4 throttle. any ideas?

 

Something's hooked up wrong or you've fried the new regulator, because the alternator is full fielded. That means that the field is seeing full battery voltage, so the alt. is putting out as much power as it can at any given RPM.

 

any idea what would fry the new regulator? only thing i could think of that would have hurt the old one is that some paint dripped in behind it. other than that nothing has been touched or messed with. i'm lost!

 

Micaiahfied,

is the alt. new? if so, return it and have the alternator bench tested. make sure its good!
then get a new VR, and a good ground from the VR to the ALT. bracket.
thats what worked for me!

Matt,

i know theres no ground on a untuched, stock VR. i was askin if you ever heard, or found out why they would go bad in the first gens while a tech.
i know the extra ground works. i did this fix on my own truck. just wondering if u had the insight on why it works, while most stock applications dont!

BOB

 

You need to check your voltage with your digital meter set on AC. With that much voltage I'm betting you'll find 12 volts at Idle. I put on a freshly remanufactured alternator and ran into this same exact problem, the nice guy who put the diode trio in wound up doing some damage. If you find this, your parts store might feel bad and give you a new regulator. one more check...if you pull your regulator off and can see through the resin on the back, you will have a burned spot, possibly some bubbling resin. check it out.

 

You hooked it to the alternator or to a ground on the engine? If on the alt, where?

Thanks.

 

McNasty,

the ground wire is hooked onto the mounting screw on the VR to the back of the ALT. it is hooked to the outside top nut that holds the ALT. together.

i am not totally sure how it works. i figure its due to the VR not getting enough ground at the firewall.

Bob

 

90 dodge,----Don't really know why the ground wire solution works, but my guess would be, being there is no ground from the body to the engine, and every thing on the truck (well just about everything) is grounded through the engine, then In my mind the VR is having to pull so much amperage to complete the circuit that it burns em out. Kinda like trying to pull 30 amps through a walmart extension cord, just to far to pull????--that's all I can come up with. BTW I seem to remember there being a small ground wire ran from headlight power supply cable to the radiator support, but that still ins't to the engine. Don't know, It's been a long time ago

 

Matt,

ya i kinda figured that was the reason. i figured i would see if you knew why. they mechanic i had look at it (after i ran the grond) and he didnt know why it worked either. and he had 30 years expierence with diesels and automotive electricle systems.

it was actually a mechanic freind who has never worked on diesel trucks, just tractors!

Micaiahfied,
have you got your VR/ALT. working yet?

Bob

 

Just bringing this back up, I had a couple more questions.

What size wire do you use?

And what bolt do you attach it to?

I took a pic as best as I could and labeled them. If the bolts not there, let me know and I'll try and get another pic.

Thanks.

 

maybe the regulator reads the voltage beteen positive in and the chassis ground. without a good ground it would not read proper voltage and therefore tell the alt to start pumping it out like no other. i dunno, just a thought.


i had a VR problem with my ol' RC. i would lose electrical power and the thing would just barely stay running. if i popped the lights on it would die. i had no idea about the external regulator so i just assumed it was the alternator. one alternator, two new sweet welding cable battery cables, and the problem still wasnt fixed. then my buddies old timer dad suggested the voltage regulator and we just slapped ourselves in the forehead.

 

Vr's are crap??? Never had to deal with the old "point type" did ya Bucky? With the exception of my 64 Fury, and my 67VIP (which I converted) every mopar I've ever owned has has the Electronic VR. In 28 years of running mopars with the Electronic VR, I have replaced 3. Thats on about 20 different vehicles. One was a failed alt that cooked the VR, another was my stupidity after re-installing an engine. So one was an outright failure. 95 times out of 100 they fail to no charge, but the other 5 would open your eyes (nostrils?) to a cooking battery.

But I would venture to say they are THE most reliable VR on the market. Based on my years of selling auto parts.

As for the ground issue, I have no idea why dodge eliminated the body to engine ground, but any parts store will sell you a braided ground strap about 1/2 inch wide or so. Just run it from any bolt on the engine to any bolt on the firewall. Using one of the vr mounting screws will be as easy as any. But any bolt will do. It will also help eliminate engine/ alternator "noise" in electronic equipment.

 

if you are a true ground-**** you will hang a ground strap from the frame and drag it along everywhere you go!