[W126 Coupe] Strange gauge lights error, any ideas?

[Markus Meyer]

I have heard lots of horror stories with auto parts stores alternators.  All
depends who did the rebuild - lots of junk out there unfortunately.  Start
there,  and if your battery is holding charge (should be between 12-5-13
volts resting), and the alternator is putting out between 13.5-14.5 volts
depending on what accessories you have running, you are good too.  Another
easy check is the fuse or fuses on top of the OVP.

Markus

Feb 24, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Josh Allen <heyallen at null-ptr.net> wrote:


> Markus,

>

> The new alternator was whatever I could get from the Napa warehouse store,

> since that was the only alternator available on short notice at the time.

> It had a new regulator with it, and at the time was putting out 14.5-14.7v

> when running, but I don't know currently.

>

> I'll check up on the charging system today, one way or another, I just

> couldn't when I found it yesterday evening.

>

> Thanks,

> Josh

>

>

> On 2/24/2010 2:45 AM, Markus Meyer wrote:

>

> Josh,

>

> I'd start by checking battery voltages, resting (car not on) and with car

> running (this shows your alternator voltage), and go from there. Any idea

> what alternator was put in, where it came from, was it new, rebuilt, new

> regulator used, etc?

>

> Once you rule out a charging problem, you can move on to other things like

> the OVP.

>

> Markus

>

> On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 2:27 AM, Josh Allen <heyallen at null-ptr.net> wrote:

>

>> Ok, I have a strange fault in my 500 SEC currently, and I can't find any

>> of the threads that I could have sworn I'd read on it.

>>

>> When I start the car, the charging system indicator glows dimly, as well

>> as the brake wear light and the empty fuel system light, but both of the

>> latter lights are around half the intensity of the charging system light.

>>

>> I thought I'd heard that these were indications of the OVP going, and it

>> did have some nasty 'foamy' corrosion or flux buildup on the back of the

>> circuit board which was easily cleaned off and then resoldered for safety's

>> sake.

>> The fault recurred two days after, but not immediately after having

>> resoldered it.  (It even persists with the OVP completely removed, and no

>> other issues seem to show up??)

>>

>> The alternator was replaced around 2000 miles ago, due to the rear bearing

>> failing catastrophically, but I haven't probed the output voltage yet, as

>> today when I went to drive it and found the issue was persisting, it was

>> raining heavily.

>>

>>

>> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, or even pointers on search terms

>> that would point me in the right direction.

>>

>> Thanks,

>> -Josh Allen

>

>

>

>

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