Pioneer 1200 gass over charging

[pruittandco]

I have a 2002 pioneer 1200 with the FE350 engine. I found that it wasn't charging and took it to a local shop for repair. I tech said both generator and regulator were bad and replaced both. Before the repair i had 12.5 volts at battery with engine reved up. After repair I have 16-17 volts. Tech said this was due to battery starting to go bad and regulator was trying to compensate. Does this sound right? He didn't seem like the brightest bulb in the box and I want to make sure before spending for a new battery.

[littlebob]

If your voltage drops below 10v while starting the battery may be going bad. Over 15v sounds like a faulty voltage regulator.

[pruittandco]

Tried that and voltage stayed at 12.5 while starting. It slowly climbs to 17.2 at wide open throttle, the goes to 13.4 at idle.

[gornoman]

The voltage regulator does not seem to be doing it's job.

[lockman1]

Yep... sounds like the Voltage Regulator!

[shadowman]

wow i can,t beleive they got you for a starter......thats not right and i,ll bet there was nothing wrong with it.......yes your voltage regulator if its going over 15.5 approx is bad and if they just put it on take it back to them.............i would also question about the s/g ...........hey guys how many times have you seen a s/g go bad as far as charging??? me in over 10 years 1 time...........very rarly do they go bad like that......................

[stinger5]

Originally Posted by shadowman

wow i can,t beleive they got you for a starter......thats not right and i,ll bet there was nothing wrong with it.......yes your voltage regulator if its going over 15.5 approx is bad and if they just put it on take it back to them.............i would also question about the s/g ...........hey guys how many times have you seen a s/g go bad as far as charging??? me in over 10 years 1 time...........very rarly do they go bad like that......................

I have never seen one fail due to charging issues. Brushes, bearings etc seem to be the only main problems.
I'm afraid I have to agree with Tom on this one, it sounds as though you were sold an expensive starter that you didn't need and probably paid for it to be installed as well. Go back and at the very least ask for your old one back. I'm not aware of anyone selling them who charges a core fee so that shouldn't be an issue. Sad to say, I know of a repair shop here who will behave this way. If a starter needs brushes for example, they just throw a "new" unit on. Same with noisy bearings. I'm guessing they repaint and clean the removed piece and repeat the unscrupulous cycle over and again.

[pruittandco]

I looked at the regulator today again and it seems to have a tiny "screw" adjustment in one corner. Could it be adjustable? Had the battery check and it checked good.

[pruittandco]

I was also just checking on the + and - post on battery. Will I get different reading going from the solenoid?

[stinger5]

Originally Posted by pruittandco

I was also just checking on the + and - post on battery. Will I get different reading going from the solenoid?

The solenoid is a direct feed (+) from the battery so testing between it and ground is the same as testing between the battery connections assuming your connections are all clean. You can also test from the cable bolts on the battery and then the actual battery posts themselves and see if there is a difference there. This has helped me in the past to determine a poor connection between the battery cables and the respective battery post connectors.