On a trip this weekend with the family, the alternator started dying as I arrived in Orlando.
On the trip up from Miami, I was noticing that the a/c blower was not what it should be and the girls were complaining that the it was hot in the back....
As I arrived, the alternator would charge and die and charge and die and finally died that night coming back from dinner. That night I looked at the connectors to make sure they were tight and noticed light coming from the back of the alternator as the brushes were sparking.... Ok... Worn out or stuck brushes.
Next day, I install a new alternator from pep boys. Car was charging strong on the way back to the hotel which I chalked up to the battery being down and the new alternator charging it up.
On the 300 mile trip back, the level of charge, slowly dropped to just off the middle toward the charge side. In other words... Normal. As I arrived, I noticed that the charge level was unnaturally reflective of the rpm.
Checking it out to see what was happening in the charging, battery system, I noticed that the system barely charges at idle putting out only 12.5 volts. A bit low IMO. As soon as the rpm goes over 1000 the alternator jumps to 14.5 volts. Once it gets over 2000 rpm it goes to 15.8 volts. Too high from what I've read.
Thinking it's the regulator, I bought a new one and replaced it to no effect.
Battery appears good and shows 12.9 volts with engine and ignition off. The battery did drain down that first night and I had to jump it to get the alternator. Car fires up strong now like before.
The good news...a/c blower blows strong, fuel gage now reads more accurately, even radio and antenna work like new....
Checked to to see if pulpy on alternator was correct size... Looks to be the same.
Ok guys what's up? Why is it charging so little at idle and so strong off idle?
bad alternator??? Or did I finally get a good one.
On the trip up from Miami, I was noticing that the a/c blower was not what it should be and the girls were complaining that the it was hot in the back....
As I arrived, the alternator would charge and die and charge and die and finally died that night coming back from dinner. That night I looked at the connectors to make sure they were tight and noticed light coming from the back of the alternator as the brushes were sparking.... Ok... Worn out or stuck brushes.
Next day, I install a new alternator from pep boys. Car was charging strong on the way back to the hotel which I chalked up to the battery being down and the new alternator charging it up.
On the 300 mile trip back, the level of charge, slowly dropped to just off the middle toward the charge side. In other words... Normal. As I arrived, I noticed that the charge level was unnaturally reflective of the rpm.
Checking it out to see what was happening in the charging, battery system, I noticed that the system barely charges at idle putting out only 12.5 volts. A bit low IMO. As soon as the rpm goes over 1000 the alternator jumps to 14.5 volts. Once it gets over 2000 rpm it goes to 15.8 volts. Too high from what I've read.
Thinking it's the regulator, I bought a new one and replaced it to no effect.
Battery appears good and shows 12.9 volts with engine and ignition off. The battery did drain down that first night and I had to jump it to get the alternator. Car fires up strong now like before.
The good news...a/c blower blows strong, fuel gage now reads more accurately, even radio and antenna work like new....
Checked to to see if pulpy on alternator was correct size... Looks to be the same.
Ok guys what's up? Why is it charging so little at idle and so strong off idle?
bad alternator??? Or did I finally get a good one.
