lights dimming?

[angry joe]

while driving at night i noticed the lights dimming. the dash lights and all outside lights just flicker up and down. also my amp gauge goes up and down goes to 18 amp then back to 0. Alt still charges battery and everything else still seems fine. what could be the problem? lights are grounded down good. what else could it be? thanks

[country boy]

I would say the voltage reg. is going bad.

[angry joe]

so since its built in to the alt. i'll have to replace the alt correct. thanks

[country boy]

Yes. You could have it tested to be sure most parts stores will test them for free.

[angry joe]

thanks. it was a good thing i pulled one of my parts rig before i tossing it just incase.

[PhilSine]

I'd take it to a real autoelectric place instead of a parts store. You never know what the counter monkeys have been told on how to interpret the results of a test. Just my .02

[dharmabum]

Before you go replacing parts check this out it saved me some $$$. I had the same problem on my Wagoneer and it turned out that the wire going to the back of the amp gauge in the dash was loose. It didnt cause a charging problem but at night the lights would flicker like crazy; really annoying. Anyway I had the dash apart for something and found that the nut holding the wire had backed off just enough to let the wire move and when I tightened it up it was perfect. Just something to check, hope its that easy.

[bvibert]

I would also check your grounds.

[tito]

Go the extra $$ for heavy duty alternator if you have to get one. Not sure about the options for a '79 Chero.

I replaced the alt on my '87 GW. Tried to save some money by getting the 65 amp (supposedly stock) version and had the same problem again 4-5 months later. Luckily, I'd bought it with lifetime warranty, so just paid the extra $$ to upgrade the exchange to a 95 amp. No problems in almost 2 years, plus plugging in a trailer doesn't affect the lights anymore.