fitter bill

hey guys my 72 cutlass s interior lites flicker when either door is opened with the engine running, but are steady with engine off. i have checked around for good ground at battery to block & block to fire wall strap to voltage regulator base good clean & tight. any thoughts? thanks BILL

jensenracing77

does it also do it with the door shut and the switch on and the engine running. if not the first thing i would check is take the door switches out and make sure they work good and not corroded.

toms vista

Are the lights flickering on / off or is just the brightness changing ? If it's the brightness that's changing I would check the charging system voltage for a pulsation which could be caused by the voltage regulator.

Lady72nRob71

Mine did that with the old mechanical regulatorm mainly on startup when current draw was higher after cranking.
It is a somewhat normal condition, due to the workings of the mechanical points in the reg.
The flicker disappeared when i changed to a solid state reg.

fitter bill

my regulator is old not a delco ,and yes it could be that its the brightness changing issue than a flicker. i mean its not a strobe lite and i kind of leaning toward replaceing the regulator any way. if i go with a new electronic regulator will it also need the condencer . thanks BILL

bil

If it does it with the doors open,first check as jensenracing77 said.The door switches may be worn,loose,or have a bad ground,vibration with the engine running could be rattling them a bit.Better and cheaper than regulater,etc. ---bil

Lady72nRob71

The condenser at the reg can be left there - it just plugs in.
It will also keep that original look.
The flicker happens as the internal mechanical points open and close.

Get a solid state unit (light as a feather compared to the mechanical one) and put the old unit in the trunk as a spare.

fitter bill

would have the name of that ss unit you have BILL

Lady72nRob71

I think I heard some folks getting ss units at Napa.
Not sure - it might take some shopping around. Take in your mech one in and compare the weights. The ss unit will be very light.
Mine came from an independent starter / alt rebuilding shop - no name on the unit at all.

fitter bill

ok thanks ,i will check out the local napa and go from there . BILL

jpc647

sorry to dig up an old thread, but did anyone over find a place to get one? When my headlights are on, they flicker as well as the dash lights. The lights don't turn off, just the brightness is constantly changing. Thinking it's probably a voltage regulator. Hoping it is anyway.

Lady72nRob71

I got mine from a mom n pop auto electrical shop way out in the boonies during a vacation drive. Cannot even remember the name of the place...

fitter bill

changed out the voltage reg problem solved BILL

jpc647

Do you remember where you got it?

fitter bill

sure do carquest auto parts part # for my 72 cutlass was RIG 86073

jpc647

Awesome. Thanks.

jpc647

I bought a new one, and after installing it I've got 16.4v going to the battery with and without a load. No fluctuation with engine speed. This has to be too much, right?

I opened it to look. I gave them the Carquest number and this is what it crossed to. First picture is of the new vs old. Old on the left with the radio static reducer thing. Second picture is of it opened up. Now I went to a car thing last night in CT, I ended up putting the old VR on the car. I sanded down the connectors and such to clean them. Didn't notice much fluctuation at all. They did get a little brighter (not much) when I tromped on the car hard on the on ramp to the highway, but other than that, it seemed fine. So the new one, putting out over 16 volts, thats junk right?

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Lady72nRob71

over 16V seems high. I would exchange it. 14.5 is more normal.

svnt442

Yeah 16.5 will boil the battery acid and could cause a whole host of other electrical issues.

MDchanic

... Like light bulbs burning out and damage to the radio if it's not well protected.

The regulator's defective. You just bought it. Bring it back.

- Eric

jpc647

Alrighty. Thank you. I thought it was high, but I just wanted to double check. I'll be exchanging it. Thanks for the information.

rmoths

I had pulsating light issues, I bought this same votage regulator and after I installed it my lights or all lights seemed to get very bright when I reved the engine, ( not all the time- I started it again and it seemed fine). Well I drove it to a car show and seemed fine on the way home ( the lights). 2 days later I went to start the car and the battery was dead. So now I'm not sure if I overcharged the battery, this sounds like the same overcharging problem you had. I'm trickle charging my battery, I hope I can bring it back to life. I think I'm going to change over to internal alternator regulator, Just hope it's not a big deal to change over. Please let me know if it is tricky to change to internal regulator system. Thanks Barb.