No Power After Installing New Voltage Regulator

[VaCat33]

Hi All

I was getting my Tiger ready for the season and I noticed that I was not getting a charge at idle. The more the car warmed up, the more rpms it needed to keep the ignition lite off. If you recall, I have posted about problems with keeping a voltage regulator for any great length of time. This time I did pretty well…it lasted over a year. I checked the battery and generator just to be sure…the battery had a full charge and the generator was generating.

So I switched out the v/reg for one I purchased from SS as a backup last year. I have done this installation a couple of times so I was confident, even with my minimal skills.

I got the new v/reg in. Reconnected the battery but When I went to polarize it (touch F wire and B wire momentarily per Shop Manual)…nothing. I checked my connections (Brown to Batt terminal…Brn/Grn to Fld terminal…Brn/Yel to Arm terminal) all were correct. I double checked battery…full charge.

Thinking the v/reg might be bad, I reinstalled the old one…same results…nothing.

I installed new one again…same results.

What happened? Any guidance? I double checked all the ground straps, cleaned them and reconnected them.

The only other action I took was to disconnect the terminals on the generator and cleaned them up. I checked to make sure I reconnected them correctly.

I took a chance and turned on the ignition…dead.

Help please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[0neoffive]

Patience & Research

Start with a simple 12 volt test light. Figure out where the juice actually is and where it's supposed to be going one contact at a time. When you reach the spot that it disappears into space, that's the problem.

 

[VaCat33]

Calling all Electrical Gurus

OK guys, I went back out and did some more inspection and testing. Not sure if it made a difference but I found the battery wire (brown) spade connector at the fuse box loose. I crimped it down and got a much tighter fit. Still would not polarize so I then took some readings with my multimeter. Here are the readings…

Battery…………………………………………………….12.9v
Batt Term @ V/reg…………………………..…….12.9v
Battery wire @ solenoid switch.………..…..12.9V
Battery Term @ Gen (end of case)…………..0

I thought I should get a similar 12 something reading at the Batt terminal on the generator. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks again.

 

[0neoffive]

Almost There

OK guys, I went back out and did some more inspection and testing. Not sure if it made a difference but I found the battery wire (brown) spade connector at the fuse box loose. I crimped it down and got a much tighter fit. Still would not polarize so I then took some readings with my multimeter. Here are the readings…

Battery…………………………………………………….12.9v
Batt Term @ V/reg…………………………..…….12.9v
Battery wire @ solenoid switch.………..…..12.9V
Battery Term @ Gen (end of case)…………..0

I thought I should get a similar 12 something reading at the Batt terminal on the generator. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks again.

Turn on the ignition and the solenoids in the V/reg should energize the BAT terminal at the Gen and the "F" terminal of the v/reg.

 

[VaCat33]

Some Progress

Hi All,

Just an update…

I have the car running again. It seems I have 2 problems. Problem 1: Everything went dead because I believe there is a loose connection somewhere along the battery wire (brown) to the V/R. All of a sudden the voltage at the BATT terminal of the V/R will disappear. Once it just cutout while the car was running. I suspect my ammeter or the wiring to/from it as prime suspects, since when I jiggled those wires the voltage returned to the V/R. I also cleaned up the connections at the ammeter. To insure a solid connection, I use ring terminals secured by nuts rather than spade connectors.

Problem 2: My original problem and the reason I replaced the V/R in the first place is the charging system is still not charging. I get only 12.6v at the battery @1400 rpm and now my ignition warning light is on full time. Since I had just changed the V/R, I thought it was a generator problem. So I removed the generator and took it to be rebuilt. They did a bench test first and it tested out fine. They then added in my new and old V/Rs to the test. With the new V/R hooked up with the generator, it tested out at 12.7v...a little anemic. But with the old V/R connected (which I had just replaced), the test showed the generator putting out a solid 14.5v (+/- a tenth or so).

Everything is back in the car. The car is running but system still not charging and ignition lamp is on full time. I know now generator and V/R are good. SO WHAT IS COMPROMISING THE CHARGE FROM THE GENERATOR?

As for the power cutting out, I will need to nail down the exact location of the problem. Since I have cleaned and checked the connections at the ammeter I will focus on…the wire into the ammeter, the ammeter itself, the wire out of the ammeter and the connection to the V/R. The wire from the solenoid comes through the harness and emerges in the engine compartment. When I hooked up the ammeter, I spliced in an additional length of wire which runs back through the grommet in the firewall to the ammeter. I then added a new length of wire from the ammeter to the V/R. All the new wire is 10 gauge. It has operated perfectly for the past 5 years.

Thoughts/comments on the above issues are welcome.

Thanks.