Electrical issues battery/altinator issues

Question

i have a 1979 elcamino and when you run the lights and or radio it drains the battery to the point of no return i have replaced the altinator and batt and it is still doing it the car had a engine swap from the original 286 to a 305 about two years ago. at times the car when you turn it off would sputter but i belive that to be an issue with the carb. but i am not sure i was told their might be a short in the steering colom or the ignition may be bad. help

Answer 1

No easy answer to this one. You need to do some troubleshooting with a voltmeter. When the engine is running you should be getting about 14 volts, even with lights and radio on. Make sure your alternator is grounded. On '79 Chevy's there is a short ground wire from alternator to engine. The alternator mount appears to be all metal but has resilient parts which don't conduct hence the need for a ground wire.

Answer 2

Just changing the altenator does not mean it is charging.  Have some garage check it. An ampmeter will measure the flow of the current.  A voltmeter just measures the voltage(which will be at least 12, should be 14 with lights on-but does not tell you how fast the current is pouring in from the alternator--and from the sounds of it, it is trickling in, not pouring in...that is why the battery dies as more juice is leaving the battery than is coming in.

Sounds to me like the regulator is fried(which controls that rate of flow).  They will be able to see right away if the lights are drawing more power than they should(meaning an electrical problem shortinng out the system).   Engine size doesn't matter.

   Sputtering could be due to idle speed is set too high putting the ignition timing out too much, or the carb is set to rich.(or maybe lean)

Answer 3

In that year, you had a voltege regulator seperate from the alternator. The regulator controls the amount of voltege from the alternator to the battery. The regulator, which is usually located on that model is on the driver wheel well cover. replace the regulator. The reason the engine sputters, when you turn the engine off, is the idle is too high, and the reason you can not get it down enough, is the last step on the fast idle cam is not releasing all the way. To rectifiy this problem, turn the black cap on the automatic choke  regulator, which is located on the passenger side of the carb, and LEAN IT  out TWO NOTICHES.

   If you had a short in the steering col. your horn would blow all the time, and the ingnition switch,...well if that was bad, the car would stall all on its own, or not start at all..

   So, follow my instructions on all that i recommend, and your will have your car back on the road again.GOOD LUCK!!!!