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Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

posted by  Hameed on  Fri May 30 23:41 CST 2008
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last visit: Mon Jun 16 07:57 CST 2008
[RELATED]

Only today, my 740 GLE 1988 started like it normally does with no problem but the battery and the warning lights didn't go off after it started. It kept being on. When I accelerated to up to 60MPH or when the RPM went to 3000 RPM the lights fade away and then when the speed/RPM go down they lights come back on again.


I guess it is either the battery- which is sort of strange since the car starts with not problem from the first time- or the alternator circuitry i.e. it is not charging the battery.

I think I should take out the battery and get it to Advance Auto parts to check the health of the battery and then I can isolate the alternator problem(s) later, is that the way to go or what?


Thanks.








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    Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

    posted by  B.B. on  Sat May 31 10:11 CST 2008
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    last visit: Mon Oct 6 13:15 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    Put a voltmeter on the battery with the car off abt 12.6VDC
    with the car running you should see about 14VDC (Charging voltage)
    If the alternator isn't putting out then check for a loose belt,
    bad alignment- you can replace some rubber bushings
    you can take the regulator off the alternator and look for bad brushes.
    Also you can check for ratty connections to the alternator/battery







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      Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

      posted by  Hameed on  Sat May 31 19:08 CST 2008
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      last visit: Mon Jun 16 07:57 CST 2008
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      The car has 184xxx on it.

      I ran the car and used a voltmeter to see the voltage across the
      battery with car on and off. It is around 8-9Volts off and shy of 12Volts when I revv it to 3000RPM or so.

      So, I guess the Voltage regulator and the brushes are the easy thing
      to do for now. All connectors seems to be good enough. I have isolated
      the battery terminals and no build up or corrosion is noticeable
      there.

      I hope that the alternator is not becoming bad itself.
      How to test for that?
      fcpgroton has the regulator for $24 and the rebuilt alternator for $150.
      So, I hope I can get away with just the regulator.







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        Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

        posted by  B.B. on  Sat May 31 21:40 CST 2008
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        last visit: Mon Oct 6 13:15 CST 2014
        [RELATED]

        Did you say the battery reads 8-9 Volts with the car off? ..and running?

        That looks like a bad battery, pop the covers off and look for empty cells
        refill only with distilled water.
        You can check full cells with a battery hydrometer to find dead cells.

        I don't see how the car starts and runs for long without charging voltage?

        Maybe your meter is suspect? Do you have another DC voltmeter?

        Bill







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          Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

          posted by  Hameed on  Sun Jun 1 15:02 CST 2008
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          last visit: Mon Jun 16 07:57 CST 2008
          [RELATED]

          I will take the battery to advance auto parts to test it tomorrow morning so that there is no doubts in my mind about it.

          I got this battery from Costco in 2004 so it stayed for almost 4 years now so I won't be very sad if it is gone.

          I drove on it like that for around 15-30 minutes and started it yesterday and started the first time and the car never turned off.

          I have a question though about the alternator, that I hope someone can
          answer for me, how do I know if the alternator is good or not after
          the regulator and brushes are replaced?








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            Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

            posted by  someone claiming to be d hunter on  Sun Jun 1 16:22 CST 2008 [RELATED]

            Why notjust drive the car to Advance, they will roll out a test cart and diagnose the problem for free.








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              Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

              posted by  Hameed on  Mon Jun 2 07:38 CST 2008
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              last visit: Mon Jun 16 07:57 CST 2008
              [RELATED]

              I didn't take the whole car to Advance since I thought with no appropriate charging of the battery going on. I might go there and then can't come back.

              So, I took the battery off and they charged it up for me and said it was a good battery. There was initially low cold cranking amps on it. It had 480 on it and it should be 590 or so.

              So, I ordered the voltage regulator since all the cables etc. were very tight no crumbling wires or anything. So, I am installing the regulator and hoping the alternator core itself is not bad.

              I don't think there is a way of figuring out if the alternator is bad or not if we take the voltage regulator out.







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                Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

                posted by  someone claiming to be sharshera on  Sat Jun 7 10:15 CST 2008 [RELATED]

                I have changed the regulator. The brushes were worn out.
                It was not a hard job to do when I changed the regulator and brushes.

                The battery was fully charged when I tested it in Advance Auto Parts and they left it for 20-30 minutes until it was fully charged.

                Now, the battery reads 12.5 volts without connection.
                It measures after the car is started and the lights are on 11.99Volts.

                I guess I am not seeing the 13.5volts because the battery is already charged, right?







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                  Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

                  posted by  someone claiming to be d hunter on  Sat Jun 7 11:14 CST 2008 [RELATED]

                  Well no, You should see something 13.5 volts or more whether charged or not. I think you still have a problem with alternator/regulator output. What are the dash lights doing?








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                    Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

                    posted by  someone claiming to be sharshera on  Sat Jun 7 15:25 CST 2008 [RELATED]

                    The dashboard lights were gone. So, that was comforting to me.
                    So, the voltage would be 13.5V even if the battery doesn't need to be charged. I thought the regulator is supposed control the voltage right?








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                      Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

                      posted by  david hunter on  Mon Jun 9 10:18 CST 2008
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                      last visit: Mon Jun 30 22:10 CST 2014
                      [RELATED]

                      Right.....the regulator is pretty smart....it keeps voltage well above the nominal at rest voltage of 12.5 and below 14.5 volts (which would fry the battery). It does all this regardless of the engine RPM or amount of load from accessories such as lights, fan, ac, etc which may or may not be turned on. It also knows when to charge at high rate and when to just supply a trickle.

                      Battery voltage will normally be over 13V whether it is charged or not whenever the engine is running.

                      If you are down at 12V with engine running and no major accessory load the charging system is not working correctly and battery will eventually become discharged. Drive the car to Advance and ask them to run their free battery/charging system diagnostic check. Do this without any accessories on to avoid discharging the battery too much. If you are worried about the battery going dead have someone follow you with cables. Have Advance drop a charge on it while you are there.
                      --
                      David Hunter








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                        Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

                        posted by  someone claiming to be sharshera on  Tue Jun 10 12:42 CST 2008 [RELATED]

                        Hello,

                        Thanks David and others.

                        I have 12.5 Volts on the battery without the car even running.
                        After I have driven a little bit, the car the voltage on the battery was 14Volts.
                        So, I am happy that this problem is part of history now.



                        --Hameed.








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                      Instrument cluster warning lights on and go off only at 3000 or above RPM. 700 1988

                      posted by  bluedot on  Sun Jun 8 14:12 CST 2008
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                      last visit: Mon Nov 15 07:05 CST 2010
                      [RELATED]

                      I replaced an alt this week that had the same symptoms.Take the belt off,grab the pulley and ck for up and down play in the bearings.The rear bearing in mine had completely failed.found a nearly new alt at the P&P for $20.

                      Bill







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