nyrobbie77

I've been noticing that at idle I can see a surge in the lights on my dash and my headlights at night. Sitting idle, you can see the idiot lights on the dash, the interior lights, and headlights kind of go brighter then darker constantly. It is cyclical and a steady surging of the lights.

Adding electrical load doesn't seem to affect it. Whether I have the head lights on, add radio or rear defrost, doesn't affect the amount of surging or the frequency in which it surges. Engine RPM is smooth. Increasing the engine RPM seems to smooth the intensity of the surge, but it is there.

I've measured voltage at the battery and see no variance there. 14.5-14.7 volts IIRC.

Last year I had to replace the voltage regulator on the alternator. The brushes wore out almost completely and I ended up running the battery flat and had to be towed home. I did notice that the slip rings were fairly worn too, but I did not replace them at the time. I'm wondering if they could be worn enough to be causing this issue. But as I'm not seeing any variation at the battery, I'm wondering if that is not the problem.

Is there a procedure for testing the output at the alternator itself?

Could it be bad grounding? I peaked at the main grounding connection in the passenger wheel well area and it looks ok. Battery is new this year and in good condition.

Thanks in advance.