The car dies when the heater is on

Tiny
ANONYMOUS
  • MEMBER
  • 1987 PONTIAC BONNEVILLE
The car dies when the heater is on. It starts right back up. What could cause this?
Monday, November 12th, 2012 AT 2:04 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,737 POSTS
Unplug the small connector on the back of the generator, then see if the stalling occurs. If it does not, have the generator professionally load-tested. If it can only deliver one third of its rated output current, it has a defective diode. "Ripple" will also be very high. That will also cause it to develop much larger voltage spikes than normal. Those spikes can destroy the internal voltage regulator and diodes, and they interfere with engine sensor signals.
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Monday, November 12th, 2012 AT 10:10 PM

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