I'm enjoying working on the 10 dollar benz.

We're up to about 1300

I'm getting voltages ranging from 12.8 to 13.7

Max voltage at anything above idle, regardless of load I can put on it (factory stuff) stays a rock steady 13.7 volts.

Idle I've had as low as 12.8 with the lights on, and blower in auto. I think the battery went at 12.6 when the car was off.

Am I due for a new regulator?

I do get occasional Antilock light *(I've read that can be an indicator of low voltage)

I did a search on alternator output.. and Just couldnt find a number that is acceptable. Hope this thread will help somebody next time around.

Thanks for your input.

JP

1984 300d Turbo
Check Your Belts . ********.com Voltage Regulator, $25.00 And Tie
Wrap The Brushes And Install Cut And Pull Out Tie Wrap Done 1/2 Hr
Mercedessoure.com Have Kit, Guide Book, Tie Wrap

Your symptoms are normal.

Your regulator is fine.

The alternator can't put out enough current at idle when a load is demanded so the voltage drops.

Appreciate it Brian.

All I really wanted to know was where in my list of "to do's" the alternator upgrade was going to go.

I would have thrown a regulator into it to get me thru till fall. Looks like that 25 bucks can go towards a Saab 135amp.

Can I just get a rebuilt bosch at someplace like pep boys.. and give em my old 65amp as a core? Some of those places... it doesn't seem like anyone is a scholar.

JP

.........LOL.......that's the understatement of the year.

Thats almost the same voltage as I get on my gauge with lights/blower on auto/sound system on, etc.... I get about 12.9 to 13.0 with those on. With most things off or on low (blower) it stays around 14.0 to 14.1 at idle for me...

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Tie Wrap?? ... Perhaps this is why one of my brushes broke off when i took it back out and put it back in. I found it tricky to get it back in there. Can anyone elaborate on what tie wrap is?

thanks

__________________
What Would Rudolph Do?
1975 300D, 1975 240D, 1985 300SD, 1997 300D, 2005 E320 , 2006 Toyota Prius

With the 65 amp alternator your numbers are fine...12.65vdc is a battery fully charged....the max voltage I see from 65's is usually 14.01 to 14.50 on a warm day....cold days it will be lower.....if batt vdc does not go below 12.60 when loaded, alternator is doing all it can.....check your amperes though...just after start amps should run around 35 to 45 amps and rapidly decline with a good battery.
Most cars are now equiped with 100 to 120 amp and they only read 14.65vdc at full charge loads.

You could check your ground cable to the chassis at both the battery and the transmission to body ground cable .



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__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

A tie wrap is one of those thin plastic pieces that have a small cam mechanism built in at one end. You wrap the piece around the bundle of wires or whatever you wish to hold and insert the end in the cam mechanism and pull it tight. You can never release it again. If you must remove it, you have to cut it off........relatively easy to do.

You've probably seen them hundreds of times holding bundles of wires together.

This is interesting...I've never used this method and usually, a rolling motion, as you instal the regulator installs them just fine....I understand the frustration of not being able to instal the reg', as the twin spring loaded contacts push against the reg as it is pushed fully home.....but after installing several hundereds over the years from both above the alternator and from underneath
I've never broken a set of brushes. Just my observations you understand.


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__________________
[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

Actually there are very awesome tie wraps along the false bulkhead of a W126 to hold the wire harness going across, and they have a little tab you press with a flat head screwdriver and it releases them, so they're reusable. There's also three of them holding the blower regulator in place. So removable/reusable ones do exist, right on our cars!

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

Yep.....leave it to the Germans to have a reusable tie wrap......although I've never attempted it.

Tie wraps, also known as zip ties.

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1976 BMW 2002- 100k
1995 BMW 325i 175k
1984 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbo Diesel- 270,000 mi

1981 Mercedes Benz 240D- Estimated 300,000+ mi Returned to the earth

Same here, I didn't have any problem installing mine without tie wrap. There seemed to be plenty of clearance. Just a matter of inserting the brushes at an angle and not forcing them.

And to a few friends of mine, they are known as handcuffs!
(the installers not the wearers)

__________________
Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )