Is 13.26 volts from the + lead out of the coil at idle too much? Has a new volt reg.

Thanks

Tod

13.2 is the voltage applied to the coil from the+ side of the battery. That will vary up and down depending on the different things that are turned on at any time and whether the battery is closer to being fully charged or not.

It's about right.....

Somewhere between 13-14 volts is usual so that the battery can charge...

Gets too high and the battery boils, gets below 12 and the 12v battery discharges ....

Ok thanks. Didn't know what the range was. Had an issue with the battery prior to replacing the volt. reg.

it totally depends on which coil you are using. external ballast or internal.

when the engine is cold, 13+ volts is fine either way. but when the engine warms up the voltage is supposed to drop either internally or externally so that your coil doesn't cook.

first identify your coil.

Dr., it's the original black coil that came with the car when new.

i think i remember someone saying the stock + wire has a resistor built in.

Therefore, when your car is warm, the voltage should drop to between 8 to 10V. I'm totally estimating. Someone else should have the actual voltage range. ;-)

cold should be 12 to 13.5V or so.

coils which do not have built in resistors will overheat and die if 12+V are applied full time.

Would the higher than normal voltage be a fault with the coil or the voltage regulator or possibly the alternator? The car was warm when I tested it.

The voltage regulator regulates the output of the alternator based on current draw. It could care less what the coil is doing. Coils are analog, care less what the charging system is doing, and are merely step up transformers. Coils are way overdesigned, and can easily accomodate the voltage fluctuation. In other words, it ain't a precise system and is designed to work accordingly.

Charging systems basics........

http://www.bcae1.com/charging.htm charging basics

They claim a 13.5-14.4 V output and others say 13-14......

If you want to test under load and make the alternator and regulator work, turn on the lights, fog lights, fans, and other auxilairies. Then recheck the output.....

Thanks for the quick education. Appreciate it. I'll test it today after a drive.

I'm not a 914 guru but stock coils are either designed for 6 or 12 volts and that is just the average voltage applied to them. The 12vdc coils are designed to just have the normal 12-14vdc on them the only other coils I know about are the early coils used that were designed to use a big ceramic reducer in a 12vdc run circuit to run on 6 volts. In the start mode they got a straight 12vdc applied through the start circuit usually from the starter that allowed a hotter spark in the start mode to give a hot spark while the starter was cranking and pulling the voltage down. When the key was returned to the run position the reduced voltage circuit with the big resistor or a resistance wire, applied only 6vdc to the coil.

If the 914 reduces the coil voltage to 6 vdc I don't think it is related to temperature but the position of the starter switch, run or start.