None of the lights work

dbraddock · Post by **dbraddock** » 10 Jul 2015, 17:31

Cool, thank you guys. Likely I had the cheaper one. I ordered bosch replacement for $25 online. Does anyone know where the alternator grounds, Ive seen the power cable and the lead but no ground

Matt122s, not a daily but I would like it to be. I drive about 100 miles a day between the two jobs

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 10 Jul 2015, 21:56

Through the bolts and brackets that attach it to the block.

Post by **abscate** » 11 Jul 2015, 03:31

No separate ground wire to worry about, it uses the chassis metal as noted above.

Not a bad time to remove and clean your battery grounds

dbraddock · Post by **dbraddock** » 17 Jul 2015, 15:25

Today I replaced the ignition switch and voltage regulator. To my surprise the battery still read good voltage when I went to take it back but they replaced it anyway. Put everything together and I am still getting a drain. It went from 12.7 to 12.0 in about a hour while I was working on other things and letting the car run. I am getting the same reading at the alternator and at the battery. Whats weird is that when I restarted the car it wouldn't start. I would turn the key on,all the lights come on but the starter doesn't engage, I get nothing. Also the battery light, fuel gauge, light out indicator, brake and hand brake are all on even though there is gas in the car and all those but the battery lights should be out. This was a new development today after replacing the switch and regulator ( both Volvo oem)

Post by **abscate** » 17 Jul 2015, 15:48

When you turn the key to ON just every light comes on before you start as a bulb check. Normal

dbraddock · Post by **dbraddock** » 17 Jul 2015, 16:05

No, I mean those lights were on with the car running. This only happened after replacing the voltage regulator and ignition switch

Post by **abscate** » 17 Jul 2015, 18:36

You are probably still not outputting correctly from the alternator if the idiot lights are on

dbraddock · Post by **dbraddock** » 17 Jul 2015, 19:08

so just order the new alternator?

Post by **erikv11** » 17 Jul 2015, 19:27

Yes, what you describe wit the lights is classic "bad alternator" behavior. That pic up there is of the voltage regulator (VR) you purchased, does it match the regulator that came out of the alternator? Did everything hook up the same way?

If they match up and you do have the right VR for the alternator, it is possible you got a bad VR out of the box, or that the problem is elsewhere in the alternator. I would bench test both VRs, the old one and the new one. This is the method I have used successfully on these VRs: I don;t use a light bulb, I put the voltmeter on the output to read the output. I found it a lot easier to figure out what is going on during the test by having a known, working VR, but it may be apparent if you give it a shot.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 17 Jul 2015, 22:50

Just an out there question,
but did you have any problems
with the connector for the ignition
switch during the swap?

None of the lights work

Re: None of the lights work