Yesterday I went to a car show about 50 miles away, amp meter showed full charge as I left the house after start up then settled down to slightly past the + charge side as it should. I had the lights on the whole way but I didn't notice till later that the amp gauge was now reading a slightly negative charge at any RPM and the car turned over very slowly on start up. Lights were now off.

I never made the show because of this and beat feet back home running on the battery.Thirty miles down the road the amp gauge started moving from a negative to a positive + 5 then later to 15 amps. At home I shut off the motor and tried to start the car which it did, battery showed 14.1 volts on my multi- meter earlier it was at 12 volts. After another start the Amp gauge went to full amps then settled down as usual. The question is what would cause this, do amp gauges stick and what should be done to fix this, replace repair or what? Generator battery and voltage regulator all have about 1000 miles from new. Tedd

 

One of the 2 contacts is intermittently sticking closed.
A dead battery after a period of sitting is likely a regulator problem.
My '70 CSM has the diagram and a thorough description of the regulator operation.

 

To expand on the prior post, mechanical regulators have several sets of contact point that open and close to regulate the voltage. Every time they open, there's an arc, which causes a minute amount of damage to the points. Over time this creates roughness, which causes resistance, which causes heat, which causes the points to overheat and "weld" together. Just like the points in your distributor, they need to be replaced periodically.

 

I agree with what's been said thus far. It's probably not the gauge, but rather the regulator. About 40 years ago mine stuck once in TN resulting in a full charging condition which almost cooked the generator. Don't let it charge "all out" for an extended period. I had to disconnect it until I was able to replace the regulator. In theory, you can clean the contacts & recalibrate the regulator if you want. See the shop manual for details (Section 13). Many people just replace it.

 

Thanks guys, I took the car for another 50 mile car show trip today and not a hint of a problem but if it does this again I'm going to swap it out, might even buy one and put it in the trunk along with the rebuilt starter, extra set of points and condenser, extra oil filter, gallon of oil, tire chains, tool box, pop up and three lawn chairs... Phew no wonder the trunk is full....... Thanks for the incite ...Tedd

 

I've had a great idea Tedd!. Get another '55 Olds, put it on a trailer, hitch it to your car, and haul it to the shows. You'll never be stuck for a spare part.

Roger.

 

Dooooh

 

Hahahha.

 

You would think that I shouldn't be having these problems, most everything on my car has been rebuilt or replaced Now I'm having problems with stuff I've already replaced going bad. Like they say you are never done....Tedd