ccdog Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Hi. First I want to say that this is my first time posting. If I did anything incorrectly I apologize. I am far from a mechanic however I have learned much from this forum and have been able to fix a few issues on my 97 deville from info I read here. I am actually posting about my brothers 77 deville. He is a disabled vet so I am trying to help him out. The car has approximately 80k on it. He has an issue in which his generator light flickers anytime that a power consuming device is used. The light is never solid, just flickers. If he uses the radio. the gen light will flicker the entire time the radio is on. when he turns the radio off, the light stops flickering. Same thing happens while he opens or closes the windows. The gen light stops flickering as soon as he releases the window switch. As long as everything is off, the gen light stays off. His local mechanics said the problem is a loose belt. If that were the case wouldn't the light be on more often? I can't check the belt as I am in Pa and he is in Tx. Thanks in advance for any answers....Jim "ccdog@ptd.net" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thu Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Your brother may need a new alternator. I don't know if the 77 Deville has an external regulator or if it's built into the alternator. In any case, you might want to take it to Sears. For a few bucks, they'll test your electrical system and find out what the problem is. If you let them fix it, they'll credit you for the analysis charge. I've done that a few times. It's fast and painless. They'll even load-test the battery for you. 2003 Seville STS 43k miles with the Bose Sound, Navigation System, HID Headlamps, and MagneRide 1993 DeVille. Looks great inside and out! 298k miles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccdog Posted July 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 Thank you for your very quick reply. I'll let him know. Thanks again...Jim Your brother may need a new alternator. I don't know if the 77 Deville has an external regulator or if it's built into the alternator. In any case, you might want to take it to Sears. For a few bucks, they'll test your electrical system and find out what the problem is. If you let them fix it, they'll credit you for the analysis charge. I've done that a few times. It's fast and painless. They'll even load-test the battery for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMachine Posted July 20, 2006 Report Share Posted July 20, 2006 wow if you can get ahold of pictures of his 77 I'd like to look at them. A 77 with 80K on it must be in a nice shape. The Green's Machines 1998 Deville - high mileage, keeps on going, custom cat-back exhaust 2003 Seville - stock low mileage goodness! 2004 Grand Prix GTP CompG - Smaller supercharger pulley, Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Dyno tune, etc 1998 Firebird Formula - 408 LQ9 Stroker motor swap and all sorts of go fast stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccdog Posted July 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 I'll see what I can do. It is beautiful. I'll see if I can get him to send me some decent pictures. May take a few days or so. It's two tone green with factory moonroof. He says it has all the toys but no cruise control. He wants to find out the history of the car. He is currious if it was special order or a company car. It does have th RR grill as well. Just doesn't seem like a standard deville. He paid under $1600 because he was told that every once in a while ther would be an engin tick that would come and go. Well he had a tune up and was told the timing was off. Engine noise never came back. wow if you can get ahold of pictures of his 77 I'd like to look at them. A 77 with 80K on it must be in a nice shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMachine Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 what a steal. Will look forward to hearing about what fixes this problem. The Green's Machines 1998 Deville - high mileage, keeps on going, custom cat-back exhaust 2003 Seville - stock low mileage goodness! 2004 Grand Prix GTP CompG - Smaller supercharger pulley, Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Dyno tune, etc 1998 Firebird Formula - 408 LQ9 Stroker motor swap and all sorts of go fast stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccdog Posted July 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 Here is a picture he sent me a while ago. The picture quality is lousy but you can get an idea as to what he has. You can't tell in the pictures but he says the paint is mint and the interrior is in excellent shape. . The original owner had it till recently. He sold it to a guy who never titled it because of the engine noise. This guy just turned around and sold it to my brother. My brother got a tune up and the noise never came back. My brother is 59 yrs old and a caddy fanatic. He said he has never seen one like this before. That's why he is so currious on it's history. We know is was made in Linden, NJ and is not fuel injected. I hope the picture comes out ok. I never posted one before. Here it goes... what a steal. Will look forward to hearing about what fixes this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fred Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 The same thing has always happened in my '79 Deville.. Well on mine you will be driving down the road in town or on the roadways and it will just come on now and then and dim and brighten.. the system is fine, new alternator - good connections and all. Tell him to go to autozone and they'll test the batt and alt for free .. make sure they test the alt with the car running... or get a voltmeter (inexpensive and useful) and make sure you're around 14v with the motor running. Look for loose connections as well. Roll all four windows down and then get the motor going about 1500 rpm and put them all up at the same time.. does it still do it? If not your alt might be the problem OR a connection somewhere. If the belt is loose, it slips, and doesn't turn the alt fast enough you see so that is a very simple fix ... the alt just unbolts and tilts (you will want to hold a big screwdriver or wonderbar on it to keep it tight while retightening the bracket) Good luck ... love the 77 - 79 My '79 Sedan Deville d'Elegance: http://affordablecarats.com/cad.htm MerryChristmas Be a Capitalist or work for one. Work for a Capitalist or be one. MerryChristmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMachine Posted July 21, 2006 Report Share Posted July 21, 2006 ah the days of huuuuge hoods. To me thats the ultimate crumple zone instead of todays compacts that fold up to save the occupants. My dads 89 Lincoln took a bad rear end hit, bent the rear bumper under and the camry that hit him was totaled. Guess them body shops have to make money some how, can't just get them dings banged out, gotta replace thousand dollor panels. The Green's Machines 1998 Deville - high mileage, keeps on going, custom cat-back exhaust 2003 Seville - stock low mileage goodness! 2004 Grand Prix GTP CompG - Smaller supercharger pulley, Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Dyno tune, etc 1998 Firebird Formula - 408 LQ9 Stroker motor swap and all sorts of go fast stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccdog Posted July 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Thanks for the info. I'll pass it along....Jim The same thing has always happened in my '79 Deville.. Well on mine you will be driving down the road in town or on the roadways and it will just come on now and then and dim and brighten.. the system is fine, new alternator - good connections and all. Tell him to go to autozone and they'll test the batt and alt for free .. make sure they test the alt with the car running... or get a voltmeter (inexpensive and useful) and make sure you're around 14v with the motor running. Look for loose connections as well. Roll all four windows down and then get the motor going about 1500 rpm and put them all up at the same time.. does it still do it? If not your alt might be the problem OR a connection somewhere. If the belt is loose, it slips, and doesn't turn the alt fast enough you see so that is a very simple fix ... the alt just unbolts and tilts (you will want to hold a big screwdriver or wonderbar on it to keep it tight while retightening the bracket) Good luck ... love the 77 - 79 My '79 Sedan Deville d'Elegance: http://affordablecarats.com/cad.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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