what should thevoltage range be on a stock 59 caddy with a 390. my problem started with the car not charging . when the car started the voltage would slowly drop. im talking at just above 12 volts. so i replace the voltage regulator and polorized it. problem still there so i had the generator rebuiltn because i relized the armature fell apart inside. now old battery, new reg. rebuilt gen. started and ran it several times threw out the day. but wouldnt start the last time after sitting off. battery wasnt charged. i figured the battery was shot so i went and got a new one. and i also braught back the generator back to the rebuilder because i broke off a mounting ear the shop notices that armature was discolored and had gotten hot. i go home and reinstall the generator and new battery. ABOUT A MINIUTE AFTER HOOKING UP THE BATTERY CABLE I SMELL SMOKE FROM THE GENERATOR AND REGULATOR. so i disconnected it. i took out the new regulator and reinstalled the old one. and polorized it. everything seems ok but the voltage range across the battery while running at idle is about 13.5-14 volts. when giving it gas it will increase to 15.5 volts every thing seems ok. Questions i have 1. why did my new voltage regulator and generator start smoking while the car was off? can it be saved? 2. is 13.5-15.5 volts across the battery ok or is 15.5 v to much thanks in advance for any help. john
after letting run for 5-10 miniutes the voltage went down to 14.9 volts and stayed there no matter what i did .--lights on , lights off, reving the engine and idle. i assume being that the battery was brad new and not really run yet the generator was working a little harder to put a good surface charge on it. i ll warm her up again tomarrow and watch the volt meter for a little while. everything seems fine now with the old reg. new batt. and rebuilt gen. i opened the case to the new regulator and didnt see anything burnt or stuck but all 3 points of contact were tuching.
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