Bad arcing sounds over radio and loss of power

[Skligmund]

I have a 1985 Plymouth Turismo 2.2 HO. Carb high compression 2.2 car.

When I start the car cold, it will rev to redline without problem for the first 5 secondsish. After this point, I start getting an electrical splatter over the speakers in the car (when radio is on) and notice a missing (medium loss of power) in the engine at high RPM. After another 5 or 10 seconds and on, this issue creeps all the way down to about 2,000 RPM.

I have:
Changed ALL ignition components including coil, distributer, plugs, wires, pickup and the computer itself.
Cleaned all connectors involved and coated with proper grease.


New data I just got today:
When I turn on the headlights, the splatter moves up to around 4K RPM. If I go high beams and full fan blower, it goes away completely.


Could a failing alternator (rectifier maybe?) cause this?
Could it be a bad ground somewhere?

I've been fighting this issue for a while now. It didn't used to be this bad, so time has made it worse.

Thanks for any help offered.

EDIT: Oh yeah, the tach gets pretty jumpy during the splatter too.

Here is the link to my quick youtube video of it

http://youtu.be/7Y4bVMa7yJM

[supercrackerbox]

Was the little capacitor on the ignition coil supposed to have something to do with this? What kind of ignition wires are you running?

[Skligmund]

The little cap only removes whine from the + side of the coil. It is really just a filter. If I remove the cap, I hear the typical ignition whine on AM radio, and it goes away when I put it back on.

As for ignition wires, I think the old ones were NAPA gold (and are only 2 years old), and the new ones I don't recall at the moment, but they were the better set out of the ones available at Autozone. Changing between them makes no difference, including the coil lead.

I've noticed when I put new wires on it, they get weld spots on the tabs in the cap. The rotor also is obviously arcing to those tabs. The main feed point in the center of the cap and rotor also gets burned and have signs of arcing.

As much as I have done to this, I think those are symptoms, not the cause.

I ask about the alternator, because it seems when it is under load, it is fine, but not under load, and I get issues. It doesn't arc after starting, probably because the battery drain from starting needs that first few seconds of run time to charge up, and is enough of a load. Maybe a slight AC wave is in the charging system, causing computer/ignition issues?

I can take a quick youtube video if that would be beneficial.

- - - Updated - - -

http://youtu.be/7Y4bVMa7yJM

[shackwrrr]

Sounds like rectifier failure.

[Skligmund]

So how do I rectify that.... *boooo! booooo! hissssssss!*

Can I do work to these alternators, or just change it?

[shackwrrr]

You can rebuild them but the parts often exceed the price of a reman. I usually grab alternators off cars in the junkyard and keep one on the shelf.

[Skligmund]

Right-o, thanks for the input!