up date from last night.... points, condenser, plug wires (i grabbed the coil while it was running and it shocked the hell out of me)
some point while trying to fix the issues the charging light came on and the alternator wasn't charging at all (thinking a lot of the issues i was having since i got the truck have been due to the voltage regulator)
so i ended up charged the battery in the truck completely and attempted to drive my way home made it 20 miles in to the 26 mile trip and the truck would no longer hold highway rpm tach was all over the place and the engine was missing hell of bad and head lights were starting to dim badly... got off the highway and didn't have enough juice for the blinker solenoids to trigger... managed to hold the truck at around 2k rpm for the next 8 miles of back roads (26 miles is freeway with a 1/2 mile stretch of highway)... made it half a mile from the house and the truck died wouldn't even fire over with a clutch kick... called my brother and he brought over a spare battery threw it in truck fired up first crank and drove the half mile back to the house... pulled both batteries and threw them on separate chargers... getting them prepared for the 5 mile journey in to the nearest Napa...
OK so here's how today went... called in to work this morning and took the day off... woo 3 day weekend to deal with electrical...
got a new alternator they threw the old one on there machine and with out a load on it pulled 14.8v and there machine said it was good
... the bearings in it were starting to show there age and there was more play then should be about 0.10-0.15" in the pulley in/out with very little side/side so i got a new one ($32.50 after tax and possibly a few discounts
)
drove it home with out the charge light coming on but i was only getting 13.08v @ the battery (remember i drove 5 miles with the alternator disconnected i should have been below 13v) so in my infinite wisdom i went and pulled the cover off the voltage regulator with the battery still connected and released the mysterious blue smoke 16.8v at the battery when idling... so i ordered a new voltage regulator...
... had the gf pick me up and take me to get it ($37.68 with a few discounts) got back home and installed it hit the ignition switch and it started right up and apparently this regulator has a chime in it when voltage drops to low (idling at 800 rpm cold the charge light flickers on and off somewhat dimly 13.6v @ battery give it a bit of gas and it goes out) so i turned up the idle speed a tad so it would maintain 13.8v min...
Have the day off tomorrow as well so ill probably take the truck out for a good hard run... also threw on the timing light since i installed new points... you would think i tuned engines for a living i was 1* out by ear last night
so all in all in the past 3 days... new points and condenser $20 and some change, plug wires $35 and some change, starter $33, voltage regulator $40, old school mechanics gauge (rpm, volts, dwell, ohm...) $25, a timing light $25, distributor wrench $3.00... nothing was replaced that shouldn't have already been replaced and things i needed anyways... buts its amazing how quickly cheap parts can drain your wallet hahaha though ~$73 is pretty cheap for an alternator (with voltage regulator) i remember the one in my cavalier was almost $150...