Hi everyone.

First of all, thanks to everyone that supplied advise on the hard right pull on my 1980. The problem is fixed thanks to you. : I now am tracking down the answer to a new battery question. I need a new battery and several battery dealers are hesitant because of the venting situation with a battery compartment on the inside of the passenger compartment. What is the best direction to go with a new battery? And also, my Gen. light is on constantly. Just what does a Gen. light tell me (what does it monitor)? I realize that battery voltage is involved here, but should a correctly working alternator provide enough voltage to make the gen. light go out. The guage shows a healthy charge from the alternator. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what areas to start looking in. Thanks

 

The "Gen" light is a hold over from when cars had a generator and a voltage regulator. These were two different componants. The "Gen" light showed "on" when your system was not charging. The first "Idiot Light". LOL
Since the '60s, cars have had alternators. Basicly it is an all in one unit, combining the generator and voltage regulator.
Make sure your battery box and lid are in good condition, and put the battery in yourself.

 

Basically the light being on indicates the battery voltage is higher than the alternator output voltage. If your alternator is putting out,you have an open circuit somewhere. Is the "sense" wire(the littlest one) plugged in at the alternator? You need a shop manual \,get in the schematics and figure out where the open circuit is.
Ron

 

THanks every one for the info. I will check the Alternator output. THe battery seems pretty simple as it is a maintenance free battery. Installation will be easy.

 

Partsman41. I am not sure what you mean when you say if the alternator is putting out. Do you mean if the guage is reading 14+ volts but the gen light is still on then I have an open circuit somewhere? Or did you mean to say if the alternator is Not putting out? Sorry, I am just not following you here. I have some electrical knowledge so I have a basic grasp of the situation but believe me, I am using the word basic pretty freely here.

Thanks
Hop

 

Most auto parts places will test alternator, battery, and starter in the car for free.

 

A good alternator will put out between 14.5 and 15.4 volts,that is higher than battery which will be up to 13.8 for a good fully charged battery. After the battery sets for awhile it might drop down to near 12 Volts,any thing lower than that would indicate weak. The "gen" light senses these voltages and lights when battery is higher than alternator. So if the alternator is putting out and the light is still on apparently the sense circuit is not seeing alternator. To get to the bottom of this one needs a schematic and starts measuring voltages at strategic points until the problem is found. Sorry about not being clear before! Is this better? Good Luck!
Ron

 

Partsman41,
Yes, much clearer now. Thanks. I tested the alternator voltage. The battery is new now and reads 12.5V. When I start the car, the voltage goes up to 15.1. When I turn on the head lights to put a load on the system, it draws down but comes right back up. The gen light is still on but it is just glowing dimly, There is a night and day difference between when I first turn the key to on (glows brightly) and when the motor is running (glows dimly). One thought I had is that I might be getting the glow from another bulb from back there somewhere partially illuminating the Gen light are of Idiot console. I will check it out today. Do you or anyone have any thoughts what might cause the different intensity of glow on the light. I also checked to see If I had a drain on the battery in the totally off position. There was 1.8 Milli Amps drain. I am not sure but I have read that this is acceptable and will not drain the battery. I pulled all the fuses and found none that affected the 1.8 MA draw. This could also be a memory maintenance for something. Any way I am glowing as dimly as my gen light on some of this stuff. Thanks for the ifno. I am making great progress.

Hop

 

I thought that w/ the key on/engine off, the lite would be brite as a bulb check feature.

 

73shark,
Your probably right. That makes sense. I recieved some new info from another source, he said that the votage output was too high from the alt. (15.1V). He thinks the diodes in the voltage reg. are going bad, introducing AC into the circuit. He says to replace the alt. but I am looking at just replacing the voltage reg. in the alt. What do you guys think?

Hop