This has to be the strangest message I've ever seen in a car. What the heck does it mean, that my alternator was pumping out too much voltage and it couldn't correct itself? Turning the car off and on made it go away. Very odd...

 

Yes that is what it means. I think it is time to get the regualtor again and install it.

 

Does that mean taking that whole assembly out? Is there any way for me just to loose the alternator enough to oull it out a bit to change the regulator without having to actually pull it out of the engine bay? I saw in VADIS what they want you to do, and it looks like a PITA if you have to actually take out the alternator.

 

It's not that bad to get it out.

 

I think I figured out a much quicker way. Can't you just take the belt off, take out the top Alt bolt and loosen the bottom one, and just swivel the Alt down far enough to get the regulator off? It looks like you can do that with no problem at all. I can get the Positive lead off without even moving it, so if I disconnect all the cables, the Alt should just slide down enough for me to change it.

Would that work or is there something else I can't see down there preventing that from happening?

 

The bottom bolts I think will not have enough room to swivel because the Alt. is pinched between the A/C comp. and motor.

 

I just pulled up a picture on VADIS. How about if I take the bottom bolts out and then swivel the Alt up and prop it up with something so I don't have to remove it. That might work. I didn't realize the bottom bolts were where they are in the pics. I guess I looked in the wrong spots. If I leave the top bolt on and just loosen it, I think I might be able to pull it out enough to get that screw out. Remember, I bought those angled offset screwdrivers and I was able to get the screws loose, but I just couldn't get them out enough. I only need the Alt to pull out about an inch or so. As long as I can pull it out that much, I can get to the regulator. I'm going to at least try it tomorrow maybe and see how it goes, but I know It probably won't work lol

 

Hopefully it will work.

 

I looked again and I saw what you mean about there not being alot of room to swivel it. I think I can get it up just enough to take the regulator out though. I'm going to try it this week sometime. I already ordered the regulator.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

I'm going to do it tonight after I get home. If I find an easy way to do it I'll post pics and so forth. In the typical me fashion though, I'm sure I'll be turning a 1 hour job into a 5 hour job.

 

Good Luck!

 

At least its not a GM/Delco/Delphi alternator where its all or nothing. Bad regulator = replace alternator unless you have lots & lots of time to rebuild your own. The other good thing, assuming it can be done, is that if it doesn't work, you can probably insert the new reg into a new alternator.

Let us know what happens. The underhood area isn't exactly like working on a straight 6 in a 62 Chevy BelAir, is it where a major problem was stretching far enough to reach the rear plugs, not how to find them in the first place.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

Well I changed it. You do have to loosen the Alt. up completely. I took tech's advice and removed the power steering pump's bolts and just kinda moved it and propped it up on top of the bracket that holds it on. This way you don't have to disconnect everything. It's actually very easy to get everything out. I was surprised. You can't take the Alt out without removing the upper cooling hose so I just propped it on top of the AC compressor and did what I needed to do.

There are 3 bolts that hold the Alt./Gen. on. You just loosen the bottom bolts to the compressor and then remove the top two completely that go through the compressor and the alt. housing (The Alt. housing is sandwich'd between the block and the compressor), remove the upper bolt holding the Alt. on and it just slides right out. As usual, I'm surprised how easy it is to work on this car. It's making me want to stick with Volvo for good. I've had my share of cars and this is by far the easiest one I've ever had to work on. Also, the power steering pump is very easy to remove. You just need to loosen up the coolant and power steering fluid reseviors a bit so you have room to move the pump.

As for the results, I don't know yet. I was too tired to drive it. I checked the voltage at the battery and the jumper terminal in the engine compartment and they were both 14.45V running so that's a good sign. I'll be driving it soon today and we'll see if the voltage stays or goes back down again to 11.5 to 12 like it was doing before. I'm still not 100% sure the problem is resolved. The lights are still flickering a little bit but nothing like they were before. I think it's been screwed up for so long the system needs to relearn everything. Or, I have some other funky electrical problem that only the dealer could find, in which case I'm screwed.

BTW, the regulator cost around $105.

 

Good job!!!