figure out lights strobing 87 SS ElCamino

[Bellyisis]

Hello to anyone or "L" owners.. I just bought an 87 SS from it's orig owner 72 year old owner.It's a 5.0 305 V-8 w/101,000 miles(all hwy). I just replaced the starter & battery which were orig to car. When the car is in idle the interior,headlights & dash lights strobe. Does ne one have any suggestions to help resolve prob? Also this was occuring before I replaced those 2 items. Strobing is cool for a club,but for driving at night

 

[antysmithers]

sounds like the alternator isnt putting off enough charge, have you tested its output.

 

[Barely Legal Welding]

did it do it before you cahnged the bat and alt? How where the cables clean or corroded?

Richie

 

[Bellyisis]

did it do it before you cahnged the bat and alt? How where the cables clean or corroded?

Richie

yes, it did strobe before starter & battery were replaced.
I had the alt checked and was told it was fine.

 

[JESSE]

lights

what your looking for is a bad ground,the dome light system and dash lights work off of a ground, the dome light works off the door jam switch. the dash lights work off the head light switch, but if you turn the head light switch to the left you can turn the dome light on ,does this make sense to you? the ground for the switch is on the a-pillar under the kick panel{driver side} the dome light gets it's ground from the jam switch,if everthing is right when you open the door the jam switch complelets the circuit by grounding! now the dash lights gets it's ground though the switch.this means that when you turn the knob to the left it goes though the reaostat,i know that is spelled wrong, all i can say is that it's a b*tch getting old this is were most people get confused the {reaostst} doesn't control power but controls the amount of ground given to the dash lights i hope this helps you,let me know what you find or if you need more help...jesse

 

[Bellyisis]

Re: lights

what your looking for is a bad ground,the dome light system and dash lights work off of a ground, the dome light works off the door jam switch. the dash lights work off the head light switch, but if you turn the head light switch to the left you can turn the dome light on ,does this make sense to you? the ground for the switch is on the a-pillar under the kick panel{driver side} the dome light gets it's ground from the jam switch,if everthing is right when you open the door the jam switch complelets the circuit by grounding! now the dash lights gets it's ground though the switch.this means that when you turn the knob to the left it goes though the reaostat,i know that is spelled wrong, all i can say is that it's a b*tch getting old this is were most people get confused the {reaostst} doesn't control power but controls the amount of ground given to the dash lights i hope this helps you,let me know what you find or if you need more help...jesse

I will check this out this weekend and let you know. Thank you all so much for your help. Hey that me ask for opionions...
Should I keep El in OE condition or mod it? Mine in is in great shape with a little clean up I could show as is or take years to customize it Wathca yall think??????? :lol:

 

[megaladon6]

if you have a multi-meter set it to A/C and connect it to the alternator. you should get 0v maybe .5v, any more means the rectifier is bad. this causes an A/C waveform or pulsing to go through the system but it's hard to pick up on basic test equipment unless you really know what to look for. it will usually be worst at idle and the strobing will either go away or just get faster relative to the RPM increase. (once it hits about 60Hz you can't tell it's flashing--it looks steady and normal)
also check your grounds as stated by JESSE, one might be loose or highly corroded. do this even if the alternator is bad. an A/C waveform can cause some screwy things to happen.