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My '78 has been having some electrical problems lately and now its really acting weird. Last week all my gauges and my heater stoped working whether the engine was on or not. Only thing that would work when the engine was started was the Gen light. I replaced the regulator and altenator and that fixed it. I drove it for a week with no problems.

Now when I turn off the engine and take the key out of the ignition the gen light comes on. wtf? When its running everything is normal but once its off I got the gen light on. Has anybody ever heard of or had this problem?

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1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

The gen light in these trucks is haunted. I think we all have some weird experiences with that light.
I first would make sure all the fuses have good clean contacts.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

I'll give that a try but I think something seriously went wrong this time.
Now my new alternator is making a whirring noise like a turbo sounds kinda cool but I know its not good.

I've bought two altenators from schucks and they both have done this.

Looks like its time to keep the fire extinguisher handy .

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1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

Were they rebuilt alternators or new? A lot of rebuilds suck.
That whirring noise is likely a bad bearing.

If It Is Whining Like A Turbo Then Yea It's Most Likely The Bearings In The Alternator. Worse It Could Do Is Not Charge or Eat Up You Belt.

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It turned out to be the alternator I put on another one that I had laying around and the gen light isn't freaking out anymore.

Thanks for your help everybody!

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1975 V8 Luv
1980 Bagged Luv

Anything Schucks sells that is electrical for a vehicle...voltage reguators, starter, alternators, batteries, etc.....are all crap.

Since the big merger/buyout a few years back with Checker Auto Parts, Schuck's Auto Supply, Kragen Auto Parts, Murray's Discount Auto Parts stores, and Advance Auto Parts... they all have one bunch of ignorant marketing and accounting guys running them all now.

They apparently think it's wiser to remove any/all useful things that the serious hot-rodder, shade-tree mechanic, or do-it-yourself customizer can use from their inventory and replace that with cheap-as-hell pocket bikes, battery powered electrical bicycles and scooters, mp3 players, battery-operated scissors, tv/dvd combos, digital cameras, fishing rods/reel combos, carpentry tools, light-up tinker bell steering wheel covers, and other unreliable crap that won't last a week......or that has nothing to do with fixing cars and trucks.

They used to be my favorite store to get all my stuff from for years...but not now.

(Sigh).....

Sadly...gone are the days when you could go down first thing in the morning to the local auto parts store and BS with the employees, sit down and have a free doughnut and a cup of coffee, while they pulled all of your parts for you.

Then you could go right home and work on your car/truck knowing that not only did you get the right parts for a decent price that fit correctly, but that they would last for a long time.

Now I have to go to Autozone, Carquest, National, Napa, a local wholesale/retail store called Parts Plus, a local 4-store chain called Cut Rate, or bid for it on Ebay or order it from an on-line store.... just to hopefully find what I need or want.

Then I pray that it fits or doesn't break or fry before I get out of my damn driveway.

And if it's a piece of crap, I wish and hope like hell that I can return it someday and get what I needed in the first place, or get my money back.

Yep...yep...the old parts store...it ain't what it used to be.

Tazman----My sentiments exactly! I have long ago given up on rebuilt alternators, starters, etc. Yeah, you take it back and they will give you another one, but you are wasting your own time not theirs. Pretty good deal they have going-- you can be their QC department!

I don't know why people go to parts stores for there electrical parts any way.You should be going to the starter, alt.,battery shops for these part,hell i just bought a brand new starter for my Kia Sportage at a starter store for $105.oo and a reman one was $140.oo.If you think that Shucks junk has such a good waranty try replacing there piece of crap starter in the parking lot on a 100* day then tell how good there junk is. Huh now i feel better already.

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1978 pro street step/side 455Buick, 4sp,4.11s, 31/18.5s

I had a whole quarter of electrical at South Seattle Community College and we learned to rebuild our own alternators. I'm out of practice, so I'd rather take it to a place in Seattle called Battery Electric and let them do it, but actually I would try taking a look at it first. The diodes can short out, or the brushes wear out and the commutators get dirty. Sometimes you can breathe new life into an alternator without a lot of expense. You need to know what you're doing, and be sure it goes back together the same way it came apart. Be sure to mark the case outside to make this a sure thing before you disassemble. The rebuilding parts are available just as the entire unit from auto electric shops.

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'78 1.8L 4-speed Fleetside

The only thing more beautiful than a sunset is a sunrise.

Yeah...I used to rebuild my own starters and alternators too.

But now I just buy a new one...because where I live I have to drive too far to find the parts to rebuild them...and because I've just been burned on too much cheap as hell rebuilt crap too many times by "discount" auto parts stores.

On real old vehicles that I can't find new stuff for...I just go directly to the rebuilder and deal with them (in person if they are close enough) directly.

I recently put a new 50 amp alternator, a new high-end voltage regulator, and a damn good battery in mine and it made a huge difference in my electrical system.

Now I just have to make my own replacement for that crappy fusebox Isuzu used.

There was a guy named TunedPerformance on here that posted about making them and selling them...but apparently he's dropped off of the radar (his last post was on Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:14 pm PST) and hasn't been answering anyone for a while.

Too bad...it actually looked pretty good.