Hi all! I have some concerns regarding an ad244 swap that I've recently finished. I found one in a wrecker, a Delphi 145A model. There was 3 and I took the best looking one. Kind of a crap shoot at a wrecker so I took the leap and bought it. I installed it. It went in REALLY easily. No need to do any grinding or bending of mounting posts. I swapped the stock square plug for the newer rounded one and put a 82ohm 5W resister on the L terminal which is required (according to other forum posts). Here's my question. I fired it up and read the voltage and it read 15.0V (which seems high to me). I live in Canada and it's fairly cold up here at the moment. -20C kinda style. After the truck warmed up it dropped down to about 14.7-14.8V with engine on, no accessories running. I ramped the engine up to about 1500-2000rpm and it stayed steady. I then turned on everything I could think of and the voltage only dropped to about 14.65V. I feel like it should drop more but not sure. I don't have a crazy stereo or anything.

Anyway, all these number seem quite high. Should I find a replacement regulator for it? I need to drive it to work and back. Is it safe to drive with these numbers or do I risk burning out the battery (also new by a month). Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

I have a 1991 Jimmy with the 4.3 TBI

 

Ideal charging voltage is 14.2 volts. Charging at a higher rate at the battery could damage it. The regulator is what determines the voltage that the alternator charges. Depending on where it senses the voltage, and the condition of the wiring, it could be higher or lower at the battery. Best to use a DVOM, not the vehicle volt meter.

 

I have been using a multimeter. And the wiring is all new 0 gauge wiring. I did the big 3 a few months back, and I've checked the grounds with the meter and it all seems good. I've been testing the alt voltage by just reading across the battery posts.

While looking around online for a regulator I found one on alternatorparts.com for the ad244 that was set to output 14.8v. It's making me question what other people with the same alt are reading volt wise?

 

Yuka, mine shows the same numbers for 2 years now and havent had a problem. Very happy with it. I have a winch , 8 lights, 400 watt amp and electric radiator fan and all is good

 

Did you check voltage drop on both ends of the positive and negative cable connections? Checking resistance alone doesn't tell you what you need to know. The reason for the big 3 is to provide more amperage to the components and decrease or eliminate voltage drop. Voltage Drop Testing