all lighting stobes

Topic: all lighting stobes (Read 3171 times) previous topic - next topic

all lighting stobes

December 02, 2011, 04:26:03 AM

Purchased 88 5.0 bird for my son earlier this year from "Privateer"
for the most part its all stock, has a 3g mod done by previous owner.

when headlamps are on with or without auto lamp active, all lighting strobes or should i say the illumination seems to jump around brighter then less bright ect.

I have been troubleshooting this off and on for about the past 6 months when I feel like it.

I have a spare 3g
I have purchased two new brush assemblies and installed on the active and spare 3g.

with the old and spare alt installed, same results.
with voltage regulators swapped out , same results
with a different headlamp switch, same results
with auto lamp on, same results
with auto lamp off, same results
with temp battery to chassis and chassis to engine 1/0 ground, same results.

I should be able to prob along the alt wiring and find stable voltage and then locate where the voltage is getting distorted on a given wire by just using a test light, have not done that yet.

Any ideas on this?

headlamp power at the connectors have a difference of potential of .2vdc
I have continuity from my chassis to the small headlamp ground wire with the wire unhooked.

I reaching out for ideas, I have not checked that one common ground stud just forward of the ash tray atop the transmission tunnel yet, need to do that.

IS there anything specific I should be looking for somewhere else?

Right now Im down to shot gunning this or tearing apart the previous owners 3g work. I hate to do this because its all groomed and dressed very nealy.

Its acting like theres a diode somewhere thats fugged up.

all lighting stobes

Reply #1 – December 02, 2011, 05:42:00 AM

Norm

all lighting stobes

Reply #2 – December 02, 2011, 10:12:22 AM

Mine does the same thing, subscribing to this thread.

all lighting stobes

Reply #3 – December 02, 2011, 06:04:29 PM

Is the strobing effect rythmic, as in does the strobing effect happen at a regular, easily discernible pattern, or is it random?

If it's rythmic, does it change in frequency with engine RPM (IE the flashing happen faster as you rev the engine)? If it changes with engine RPM it's almost certainly the alternator, a dead phase in the stator windings or an open or shorted diode, or even a poor contact section on the slip rings on the rotor. If it doesn't change with RPM but is still rythmic it may be the regulator switching slowly as Tom Rezno suggested.

A marginal battery can cause this type of thing too, if it is causing the alternator to go full bore all the time. A good battery acts as a capacitor to smooth out the recified current the alternator puts out. If the battery can't smooth the current out you will see strobing (though you'll usually also hear noise on the radio, especially AM stations). Battery cable issues can also cause this.

If it's random, does it happen in synch with any accessories turning on and off?

Finally, make sure the alternator is correctly wired. Like you said, you didn't wire it, so you don't know how it's wired in there. It might be best just to take it apart and make sure it's wired correctly. Don't let a neat looking (but possibly incorrectly wired) job hold you back - you can make it just as neat, but wired correctly. And on that "wired correctly" note, what is installed as a wire between the alternator's output and the battery? Is it still using the stock black/orange wire, or has a new wire been run, or is it a combination of both? Personally, I always use the black/orange stock wiring in conjunction with a seperate 6-gauge wire between the alternator and the battery, but that's just my preference...

all lighting stobes

Reply #4 – December 02, 2011, 06:39:28 PM

the strobe mimicks what appears to be alternator related as described its proportional to engine RPM.
Its not random at all, its linear with respect to rpms

I totally forgot to start the car with just the battery as the source,, thanks!

I do remember telling mason that one remaining thing we need to do is swap in my battery to his car and see if something was loading the alternator , ie- ripple from the battery.

Now i have a way to break this up into two isolated sections to troubleshoot, thanks everyone.

I did criss cross regulators to a different alternator duing the two times we swapped in / out a different unit. Nothing says the regulator isnt bad either, those 3g regulators are very steep in price. The regulators are not new.

I did open up both alternators to check the diodes, they all read correct but i cant speak to the condition of the slip ring, the brush kit is new in both.

BTW, your sequencial lights are still going strong!!

Oh, yeah,,
when we did swap in a regulator with new brushes, we had a funny happen. I forgot to pull the pin out to release the brush kit.
Mason took off for a test drive and in about two days, the car would not start as it was running on battery,,then we found it~ i forgot to pull the pin on the grenade LOL. kinda funny actually now that I look back on it. I was bout ready to freak the frig out pulling my hair out resorting to just buying a new regulator because nothing else made sense. Upon having the alternator on the work bench, thats when we saw the temporary bursh pin (ie- paper clip piece part) was still in there.

all lighting stobes

Reply #5 – December 03, 2011, 02:44:01 AM

I got outside when mason got home and unhooked the sense and regulator plug. I figured thats about the same as powering down the alternator.

symptom went away while running off battery.
I discovered that apparently there is no amp light coming on, this lines up with the fact the amp gauge has not worked since it arrived.
I assumed that not having amperage showing was an "extra" and that we can fix that later.
With the alt unhooked, and with the car running and on battery with no dash warning light, the lighting did not strobe.

I plugged the alternator back in and apparently the problem is gone now...symptom pointing to a possible intermittent connection possibly in the alternator harness. I will let him drive it and see if the problem comes back.

48amps draw with all possible loads on including while in "D", brakes applied and turn signal on, heater on, radio on ect ect.

14.2vdc at alternator and 14vdc downstream to the battery.

all lighting stobes

Reply #6 – December 03, 2011, 02:47:50 AM

I got outside when mason got home and unhooked the sense and regulator plug. I figured thats about the same as powering down the alternator.

symptom went away while running off battery.
I discovered that apparently there is no amp light coming on, this lines up with the fact the amp gauge has not worked since it arrived.
I assumed that not having amperage showing was an "extra" and that we can fix that later.
With the alt unhooked, and with the car running and on battery with no dash warning light, the lighting did not strobe.

I plugged the alternator back in and apparently the problem is gone now...symptom pointing to a possible intermittent connection possibly in the alternator harness. I will let him drive it and see if the problem comes back. I did a wiggle test and could not get the symptom to come back.

48A demand with all possible loads on including while in "D", brakes applied and turn signal on, heater on, radio on ect ect.

14.2vdc at alternator and 14vdc downstream to the battery.

I think i gotta look at connections first >more closely again that is.

all lighting stobes

Reply #7 – December 03, 2011, 12:30:06 PM

The amp light gets it's ground through the regulator. With the regulator unpluged it won't light.

all lighting stobes

Reply #8 – December 06, 2011, 02:51:45 AM

well, here we are at a stalemate, no further symptoms.
Now that being said, and knowing I really didnt follow the instructions / suggestions "exactly" like i was suppose to it dawned on me how much more confused I may have been If I had done what i was told.

Luck would have it so I am going to investigate the alternator connectors and swap them out.
I wont call this a go until a couple more weeks but so far so good.

Mike,
if your a 3g now, this may help you. I know if you buy a stock alternator now a days, it comes with two new connectors as a part of the kit, not sure about the 3g alt kits and if they come with the new but different connector kits or not.

all lighting stobes

Reply #9 – December 06, 2011, 08:19:39 AM

So... you just unplugged the alt harness and plugged it back in and ...... viola???

all lighting stobes

Reply #10 – December 07, 2011, 12:05:40 AM

Not sure if you have 3 connections or not but,,
I kept the output wire connected.
I unplugged the single wire and the 3 wire connector and yes, viola.

all lighting stobes

Reply #11 – December 10, 2011, 04:27:51 PM

I got the new regulator, installed it and BOOM..... no more strobing. I was so happy. I also installed the RJM headlight relay harness, great piece, easy install and my lights are awesome now. I was a very good night.

all lighting stobes

Reply #12 – December 12, 2011, 03:16:41 AM

good deal!

did you see any improvement on illumination?

also dont forget to follow up in a few months and update this thread with how well its still working.

did it come complete with a brush kit also?
did it appear this was a repaired unit? , as in ,, does it appear they have figured out how to open it up and fix a fault and then reseal?

all lighting stobes

Reply #13 – December 12, 2011, 05:07:00 PM

Came with new brushes, and it looked to me like it was brand new. It wasnt a motorcraft brand.

I took some before and after pics of the lights, but it was kinda light outside when I started and kinda dark when I finished. I was losing about 1 volt on the pre harness install.

all lighting stobes

Reply #14 – December 14, 2011, 02:06:01 AM

Well, back to my topic on the lighting,
so far so good. I may this weekend find the time to make connection corrections at the alternator.
its likely the three wire plug , have a brand new spare i can use.