When the charging system on my '62 LeBaron failed last summer, I discovered that the failure was caused by corrosion that the connectors to the voltage regulator. I had bought a new regulator, alternator, battery, and cables, only to find that when I disconnected the very first wire, I found the problem. All of those nice brand new parts are still in my garage, and the car is running fine. Paul In a message dated 3/15/2004 12:50:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, imperial59@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes: > >I replaced the AC compressor in the 1964. I painted it too well and when I >put the ground battery >cable into it via the bolt that holds it on, the car >refused to charge, probably due to poor contact with >the metal. It >occasionally spiked up, but rarely. > I doubt your cable was/is the issue as the starter wouldn’t be able to >crank the engine if the connection was that bad. When cranking you have a >couple hundred amp load on that cable whereas the generator can only recharge >somewhere around 40 amps. Since moving the cable made it better you might >start by looking for poor connections. Reseat the wires on the alt. and pull >the voltage regulator off, clean the base up good where it grounds to the body >of the car and reinstall. If that doesn’t get it I would try the voltage >regulator first then the alt. > Also check the ground cable between the engine and the body. This can also >get corroded and cause all sorts of flakey > problems. > > Steve B. > >