Wut?

 

I r teh sorry for being noob, but how do I check the voltage regulator?

 

Haha, no problem mate. I ran into some alternator problems with my old Maxima and learned a lot about how to diagnose little problems (I actually learned a lot from that car before my G, thank god, lol). First you need a multimeter with clamps so you can clamp them to the terminals of your battery (pos to pos, neg to neg). Set it to read volts and you're good to go.

Testing battery/voltage regulator/alternator:

1. The battery at idle (EDIT: NOT idle, I meant when the car is off) should read at around 12 volts. Any less, your battery is bad (assuming it's been driven regularly and hasn't been sitting for a long time).

2. When you crank the car, it should jump up to about 13.5 volts and stay around that mark during idle, but no more than around 14.5. When you crank the car, the alternator is charging the battery, which is why it'll read higher volts. If it's reading any less than around 13.5, your alternator isn't charging the battery properly.

3. To test the voltage regulator (you'll need another person to help), simply have your partner slowly rev the car. If the voltage keeps climbing as your partner revs (past the 14.5vish mark), then your voltage regulator is no good. The voltage regulator keeps the voltages down when your engine is under load to prevent the electrical systems in your car from... Well, blowing. That's obviously no good.

If you don't have a multimeter, you can take your car to Autozone or something and have them test your alternator/battery. The voltage regulator is part of the alternator, so if one goes, you'll have to replace the entire thing (I THINK). You can also hit me up; I've got a multimeter and I can come by and check it out (or you can come over to my place). Shoot me a PM if you wanna do that.

 

I think I may have one, and if not I know my dad has one. I'll have to do that after work today. Last time I replaced my bulbs, the plug that connects to the bulb itself was extremely hot to the touch. I don't know if that's normal, but figured it may be a tell tale sign of something.