ok guys this is wierd. yesterday i drove my 7 to santa cruz with eas. but comming back home, about four more exits away, my belt started to squeak n started to smell a burning plastic smell. checked my voltage n it was at 16ish 17. so i pulled over n checked it out. pix should show that teh ruber cap burned. found out the screw was loose. tighten the screw but its still giving 16ish volts. but doring idel, it drops to 12, rev the engien to 3k, hte volts got to 16. weird cuz my head light turn realy brigth at ngith now lol. let me noe watcha guys think. guta go to wrk

 

Wow, that was tough to read.

How's your voltage regulator?

 

I had that problem on an old 280Z I had and one night on the way home from NJ everything bot real bright and then POOF.....

Not a good light left in the car!

 

Your voltage regulator is full-on.

Make sure that the connectors are clean and tight. Voltage regulators can be spoofed by a poor connection on the sense wire, making it seem to the regulator that system voltage is a lot lower than it really is.

 

try swaping alt. n see what happends. i had the same prob a while back and that did the trick. what type of battery r you running?

 

its a Exide select orbital. kinda looks like a optima battery. but wouild it be bad to to drive teh car for a few days like this? any damage to anything? n not to b a noob but wheres the voltage regulator? is it next to teh burned thing?

 

I wouldn't drive it much, if at all. Too much voltage could potentially fry the electrics in the car.

 

The regulator is inside the Alternator.

As stated by another member verify that the connections to the alternator are tight and that the belt is tight.

Overcharging can damage many things. The battery can be damaged by being overcharged, the lights in the car can blow out.

Whatever you do, don't let anything spark next to the battery. Although the Orbital battery is sealed there is still gassing that is being emitted from the overcharging of the battery.

 

Hey Doc!