As some of you have already read under my "Vacuum leak?" thread, I'm having some misfire issues on my '71 302. It seems like I've tried everything other than leak-down/compression tests at this point. I did notice something odd today though. My voltage at 40mph or so is a fairly steady 14V. Once I get to around 60mph it looks like a clock ticking between 14V to 16V. After that, it is staying fairly steady at close to 16V. Sound like a bad alternator or Voltage Regulator? The alternator is a refurb but fairly "new". The VR is original I think. Can one of these cause some misfire issues? Even if not, I'm still curious about the VR and Alternator and the voltages I'm seeing. I've had an alternator fail on me before and it cause all kinds of ignition problems, but nothing quite like my problem now. What do you guys think? Also, I'm going blank on the little cylindrical part just under the VR that looks like a condensor. What is this?
I'd replace the VR and see what you get. They're relatively cheap, and easier to change than the alternator. 16 volts is quite a bit, and it will probably fix it. The little cylinder thing is a radio noise suppressor I think. Keeps the radio from "buzzing" from electrical interference.
