Headlights burnt out AGAIN! WTF?

Its also a symptom of an intermittent ground in the alternator field circuit. Brief grounding of the field full-fields the alternator and shoots the system voltage to the high side of 20 volts... pop go the lights. Been there, done that... :-(

Nah. You just wire in a 72-up standalone Chrysler voltage regulator. The exact same circuit got replicated onto the ECU board, so the function is identical.

Yes. Also the first with electronic ignition, and the first with electronic voltage regulators. Among other things. Chrysler was a world leader in automotive engineering... once upon a time, not all that long ago :-(

Obviously not a CS120. Delco made some GREAT alternators... and some utter crap.

Yeah... it sounds horrible until you saw the WATER-cooled alternator setup on some Northstar Cadillacs. Then it looks a little less horrible. Ick.

I figured to do something like that if I ever owned one. I could never do that to a customer's car. (I know - never say never)

yup, Chrysler and Studebaker were ahead of Ford and GM with a lot of things that really mattered (I mention Studebaker for adopting disc brakes, and also electronic ignition - not sure if they had it before Chrysler or just at the same time, although it still used points instead of a Hall sender or other electronic means) and look where it got 'em.

Of course, only Ford is really left standing at the moment...

nate

A 72 up standalone Chrysler regulator? What is 72 up? cuhulin, the dummy

I think it is Dodge that was first with wire braiding in the front flexible brake hoses.That kept the hoses from ballooning when the brakes are used. cuhulin

I think he means model year 1972 or later. They're all the same basic thing for a decade or more IIRC so if you ask for one for, say, a '74 Imperial you'll get what you want.

nate

Model year 72 through the time when the VR became part of the ECU.

A follow up to MY above original post from awhile back:

Last week my alternator DIED..... I now think the problem above was just a symptom of a bad alternator.... as some suggested.

However, new alternator and two new belts cost $450!! That abt right price for that?

Installed? Brand new? that ain't bad. A reman alt for a VW Corrado is about that much just for the part.

nate

yes

yeah I guess its not bad...considering I got 182k miles out of original alternator, yes?

yeah... and since you seemed to be having overvoltage problems, it was likely the regulator that was bad, so a "quick fix" benchtop "rebuild" with new brushes and oil for the bearings wouldn't have fixed it

nate

Actually Ill bet it had a short to ground in the field (rotor) coil. That will cause very high voltage spikes until it fails permanently and burns out the rotor coil.