battery dying/rpm gauge going crazy

[CptnKeifer]

got in my 88 carb. 5 speed, and no crank from the battery. i decided to push the car, pop the clutch, and it started and ran fine, but the RPM gauge was going crazy, jumping around between 3500-5500 rpms. My ears told me i was sitting at 1000 rpms. Durring this my battery light would flicker on and off. A few mintues later it died while i was moving, tried to pop the clutch to start it back up but it just bogged. Is this the alternator dying, and could it cause my RPM gauge problems?

['89AccordLX(Rus)]

Try swapping the coil first. The tach gets its signal from the coil, which could cause what you are describing. Also, the tachs are known to show symptoms like yours when there is something wrong with the distributor/ignition system. Check the igniter, wires, abnormal noises, etc. If you can get the car running, get a multimeter and measure the voltage at the battery terminals. The alternator should put out about 14volts if I am not mistaken. If it is too low, the alternator is failing. Hope this helps.

P.S.: Is your battery in good condition? Autozone and other autopart retailers will charge and check a battery for free. You may want to take it in and see if it is still good.

[shepherd79]

sounds like the souce of your problem starting at alternator. it is not chargin the battery. thus the motor drains the battery.
check the alternator with voltmeter on the battery when the car runs. if you have 14.4v. you are good.
anything less = dead alternator.

[CptnKeifer]

thank you both for responces, i checked the voltage just now and got 14.5, but i forgot to mention something. A few weeks back i was getting a whine from the belt area, tightened them, and loaded on some belt dressing, but the sound never stopped. It seemed to come from the alternator area. A week or so later the noise stopped and everything seemed ok. Could the bearing on the alternator have gone bad, but still functioned? and now, a few months later its causing these symptoms?

P.S. While my rpm gauge was going crazy earlier, the battery light would flicker, but when i put my headlights on, the light would stop flickering. Could a voltage regulator come into play too????

P.P.S. as of now the car starts and runs perfectly, and i havent done a thing. Does this change anything?

[k-roy]

You might want to change your belt first to be sure its not that
The voltage regulator is built into the alternator.