Tump43

The voltage regulator is a wear item and should be replaced every 60k or so for peace of mind. I went through this on my C43 and had it replaced (after a tow) at 80K, battery and alternator where fine. On my C55 I had it replaced at 65k. No problems yet.

RLx02

Several us here had to replace it. Luckily I wasn't lowered so I was able to get on a flat bed without messing up my lip.

The voltage regulator is a cheap part...but i got raped by the dealership at the end because I wanted it taken care of asap.

ghiaguy

Sorry to bring this back from the dead... but I got the red battery/alternator warning today driving home after work for just a second (then it went out until the reminder when you shut the car off). Car is still running fine though, in fact better than ever!
I replaced my VR a month ago as preventative maintenance! Thoughts?!?

ghiaguy

Well, today the car was fine w/o any lights or warnings this morning driving in to work.
It only happened yesterday shortly after starting off- I buried the throttle at a stop sign after doing the 'no you go' dance with an idiot in a Prius and the light popped for a second.

I'm wondering if people that experienced this light before a breakdown have the light stay on or just flash once like mine did... Any updates on your experience are appreciated as I am too busy to be stranded and too busy to schedule an unnecessary shop visit in the before the new year.
Might have to bring the Ghia back to daily driver duty!

Supgee

Ghiaguy you are definitely having problems with the system.
I drove my C32 for up to a month with the alternator/battery warning intermittently going off but eventually the alternator kicked the bucket.
The car is telling you something is wrong, take care of it now before she inevitably strands you.


As the saying goes... been there... done that..

alfred dahdah

I had the same problem 2month ago, I just changed the vol regulator.
when the red light goes on I advise you to stop the car avoiding more damages....

ghiaguy

Thanks for the responses you guys. I was shocked to have issues since I changed the voltage regulator three weeks ago as preventative maintenance!

Yeah, the car was all good until I headed home today. It felt lethargic but no light until I got on the accelerator a bit- then it was on for about 5-10 seconds. I headed to my parents place and traded it for an E39 for the rest of the week.

I wonder if I should put the old VR back in and see if that cures it. Maybe I got a bad regulator?!? Was the voltage regulator all you needed alfred?

Looks like I'll be under the hood this weekend. Thanks again & happy holidays!

alfred dahdah

yes,
maybe the VR you have in not good enough.
but before putting back the old one, turn on the car, lights high beam, audio, and check your battery voltage to see if the alternator is working properly

ghiaguy

I'll test the voltage at the battery and cycle accessories to see how steady it stays. I'll see if I bookmarked that tread I saw that mentioned what it should be at idle and under load.
cheers

ghiaguy

Tested the battery and alternator and found nothing out of the ordinary. ~12.5v on battery with car off and almost 15v under load.
Thinking on it a bit, then took another look at the battery and realized it was the original factory one! I ran the number/letter code and it was manufactured in 7/2003!!! Seriously, a ten year old battery...
I changed it today and ran the car all over town and haven't seen the error again! Fingers crossed!!

C230 Mulac

I'd be willing to bet a lot of $ it was the battery given how old it was! Glad you could find that out before you got stuck! (Crossing fingers so I don't jinx you if that's not the issue )

For anyone else that's out there, I'm at 92k miles and I bought the car at 64k and have not changed the voltage regulator at all. Not sure if the guy before me did but I would think probably not. Is this a common enough problem that I should probably just do it anyway as preventative maintenance?

ghiaguy

Car flashed the Battery/Alternator red warning a for just one second at WOT today. Pretty pissed since I was excited that a battery replacement seemed to fix it. Car only flashed once at WOT during a day of spirited driving. It ran well all day today with only slight rough idle at one spotlight last night.
I'm a a loss, shot belt dressing on the serpentine belt before I parked it tonight.

Changed my VR as precautionary measure on 11/30/13 with 376 miles driven since.

Happy Holidays gearheads!

gnma

How did u do this?

Tks!

ghiaguy

I used this page where I could submit the first 4 letters/numbers that were on the top (top right iirc)
http://www.wheelworks.net/battery

Then it turned out that date for me- which is a year and three months before my delivery date. That timeline seems entirely possible to me!