So I've been having problems with my '84 325e not wanting to start. I'm frustrated, so I apologize for the long post.
When turning the key it sounded like the alternator wasn't giving the car enough juice to turn over. Also, my lights would pulse at idle rpms. I pulled the alternator and had it tested. The alternator was fine, but the voltage regulator was bad. I replaced it and reinstalled the alternator.
Car started up no problem at all for a day, and no more pulsing lights. Today, it took about 4 tries until it turned over and once it did, the lights were pulsing again. So I thought the voltage regulator got fried. While I pulled the alternator I noticed some generic looking ground wire that was connecting the alternator to the engine block. I removed it since my Bentley says it doesn't need a ground wire, cleaned up the main engine ground, and had the alternator tested again this morning. The test showed the alternator was bad but the regulator was good. Being confused, I took it to another autozone a few hours later since I had class, and wouldn't you know, everything passed with flying colors. I have no idea what's going on. Is it really my alternator that's causing the problem or are the symptoms caused by something else? I'm planning on reinstalling the alternator for the second time today and seeing if anything changes since I've cleaned the connectors and grounds.
When turning the key it sounded like the alternator wasn't giving the car enough juice to turn over. Also, my lights would pulse at idle rpms. I pulled the alternator and had it tested. The alternator was fine, but the voltage regulator was bad. I replaced it and reinstalled the alternator.
Car started up no problem at all for a day, and no more pulsing lights. Today, it took about 4 tries until it turned over and once it did, the lights were pulsing again. So I thought the voltage regulator got fried. While I pulled the alternator I noticed some generic looking ground wire that was connecting the alternator to the engine block. I removed it since my Bentley says it doesn't need a ground wire, cleaned up the main engine ground, and had the alternator tested again this morning. The test showed the alternator was bad but the regulator was good. Being confused, I took it to another autozone a few hours later since I had class, and wouldn't you know, everything passed with flying colors. I have no idea what's going on. Is it really my alternator that's causing the problem or are the symptoms caused by something else? I'm planning on reinstalling the alternator for the second time today and seeing if anything changes since I've cleaned the connectors and grounds.
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