Started the 65 the other day after a year. (I have been working on the 54!) Anyway, the engine started up right away, but when I disconnected the battery, the engine stopped. I had the alternator rebuilt about a year ago. I am thinking that I need a voltage regulator. Am I right on here?
Alternator damage can be caused by disconnecting the battery while the car is running. First you need to have a known good battery. An alternator needs a good battery for it to function correctly You could pull the alternator off and have it checked at a local parts house, or if you have a multi meter , check the voltage at the battery with the car running at about 1500 RPM. You should have 13.6-14.7 volts. The voltage at the battery terminal on the alternator should be the same. , or within a couple of tenths of a volt.
If you have a two wire alt. (battery and field post only). Disconnect the field wire, start the engine, jump from the battery post to the field post with a jumper wire. The amp gauge in the car should go to full charge. If not, It's usually the alternator. If it does, it's usually the regulator or maybe wiring. Don't leave the jumper wire on too long. You want to test the alternator. Not burn it up.
Don't disconnect the battery. Older Chrysler systems did not have a lot of output at idle. You can check the output with a volt meter or even the amp meter on the dash board. If it charges ok when you rev it up a bit don't worry about it, just don't disconnect the battery.
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