dies on decelleration

[hachiroku]

I've been driving my Esprit for a few months now, no problems. Well... now it seems that my battery loses charge on decelleration and the car dies. She has normal voltage of 13, until I lift off the accel. at which point it drops to 11 and dies. Starts right back up again though, so thats good, tells me its probably not the fuel system. It won't die on decelleration as long as I keep all accessories, including fan, radio and (unfortunately) lights off. Even if I try rolling down the window, she dies! So I've been driving with no accessories lately (when I can), and its getting harder to do so as the weather warms up and I can't use the fan... anyone else have this problem? Voltage regulator maybe? Is the voltage regulator built into the alternator? any suggestions?
Thanks.
Dan

[lotusguy]

I've been driving my Esprit for a few months now, no problems. Well... now it seems that my battery loses charge on decelleration and the car dies. She has normal voltage of 13, until I lift off the accel. at which point it drops to 11 and dies. Starts right back up again though, so thats good, tells me its probably not the fuel system. It won't die on decelleration as long as I keep all accessories, including fan, radio and (unfortunately) lights off. Even if I try rolling down the window, she dies! So I've been driving with no accessories lately (when I can), and its getting harder to do so as the weather warms up and I can't use the fan... anyone else have this problem? Voltage regulator maybe? Is the voltage regulator built into the alternator? any suggestions?
Thanks.
Dan

Hi,

Yep, it sounds like the VR. But, the first thing you should try is to clean and reestablish proper ground, this is the source of so many electrical problems on an Esprit it's amazing. I still think your VR is at fault, but a bad ground is bound to a contributor if not the cause of your trouble. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

[lotusman]

Though you did not say what year and model you have, after what Dr. Ian went through on his battery failing I concur that it is probably the ground. The momentum under deceleration will move the wiring and if it a marginal ground that would be enough to lose contact.

I have lost several regulators as my postings talked about but moving or standing still made no difference in the voltage reading. 13 volts does sound a bit low when driving. It should be 13.5 v.

How old though is your battery?

Bob Kumse
'89 non-SE

[dr.ian]

Yeah, check the grounds!! Find a way to attach a good sized wire to the case of your alternator. Then touch the other end to the NEGATIVE terminal. While you car is running, watch the voltage gauge on your dash as you make contact. Your charge will jump up if it is a ground problem. If this happens to be true, clean the heck out of your main ground wires, add a ground wire to your car, and possibly to the alternator itself. If this fails.....you will have a fun day cutting your hands while taking the alternator out. Let me know if you do....Mabey I could save you some time and pain. Get the alternator checked for a bad VR or other problems. It the entire thing is dead, don't buy the $600 replacement, there is an ACDelco you can buy for $150...and it works perfect.