craig442

1965 442 - Stock - Suddenly the Gen light in coming on. I have a voltmeter gauge and it indicates 13.5 volts when car is running. I have the factory type firewall voltage regulator, but it does have the electronic guts.

The Gen light is very dim while in drive or park, but placing the car in reverse makes the light very bright. Voltmeter gauge also drops to 12 when in reverse. Not sure if this is due to RPM's dropping in reverse.

I did a search and grd. issues seem to be possible. I have verified the grd. from engine to body is good, and the grd. from battery to engine is good. Alt. body also seems to have a good grd.

I should note new engine and everything is clean, and has been working fine since last fall when I installed the engine and cleaned everything up, including new wire harness.

This is a sudden, new issue.

Service manual says it is either the alternator or Field Relay. Since the volt meter says it is charging, could it still be the alternator? Battery is strong.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

classicmuscle442

If the battery load test good and is fully charged, alternator connections are good/clean, battery cables are good (just had this problem), good/clean grounds, turn on headlights and see what voltage you have at the battery. Should stay above 13.5 volts or so. Auto parts stores will check alternator output to confirm.