Post by: Crunchy on February 26, 2013, 06:46:30 PM
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on February 26, 2013, 06:57:42 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 26, 2013, 07:01:12 PM
Post by: Bradyfc on February 26, 2013, 07:08:50 PM
you should be able to disconnect the postive on the battery and the car should run off the alternator. if it dies your alternator is bad.
if you do that you take a chance of blowing the diodes in the alternator.
Post by: Skyvalhunter on February 26, 2013, 07:14:45 PM
Post by: coachcw on February 26, 2013, 07:14:56 PM
Post by: Crunchy on February 26, 2013, 07:17:31 PM
Post by: Bradyfc on February 26, 2013, 07:25:00 PM
Well then you make a suggestion then!!!!!
i was just trying to save the the guy the extra headache no need taking it personal :bash:
Post by: coachcw on February 26, 2013, 07:26:28 PM
Post by: huntnphool on February 26, 2013, 07:33:40 PM
Post by: jackelope on February 26, 2013, 07:39:56 PM
Usually an alternator goes south, battery light comes on, volt gauge drops(if equipped), car runs off the battery till the battery is dead then the car stalls and will not restart. It will have no battery power.
When you say... the car was dying, I think... the car was stalling. An alternator, in my experience, won't cause a car to stall multiple times while driving.
Post by: woowoo on February 26, 2013, 07:44:37 PM
Post by: Mudman on February 26, 2013, 07:58:01 PM
Post by: Crunchy on February 26, 2013, 09:09:36 PM
Post by: Crunchy on February 26, 2013, 09:19:59 PM
What do you mean when you say the car was dying?
Usually an alternator goes south, battery light comes on, volt gauge drops(if equipped), car runs off the battery till the battery is dead then the car stalls and will not restart. It will have no battery power.
When you say... the car was dying, I think... the car was stalling. An alternator, in my experience, won't cause a car to stall multiple times while driving.
Yes it was stalling and the lights were dimming. the wife limped it home. The the battery light came on as well. I charged it the first time and the battery light went off when it was fully charged. it was back on when she got home. The positive terminal connector did not look great. I will either clean it up or replace it tomorrow.
Post by: JLS on February 26, 2013, 09:30:36 PM
Post by: jrebel on February 26, 2013, 09:30:53 PM
Post by: Mudman on February 26, 2013, 09:34:41 PM
Post by: jackelope on February 26, 2013, 09:37:47 PM
What do you mean when you say the car was dying?
Usually an alternator goes south, battery light comes on, volt gauge drops(if equipped), car runs off the battery till the battery is dead then the car stalls and will not restart. It will have no battery power.
When you say... the car was dying, I think... the car was stalling. An alternator, in my experience, won't cause a car to stall multiple times while driving.
Yes it was stalling and the lights were dimming. the wife limped it home. The the battery light came on as well. I charged it the first time and the battery light went off when it was fully charged. it was back on when she got home. The positive terminal connector did not look great. I will either clean it up or replace it tomorrow.
How did she get it restarted once it stalled?
Post by: Crunchy on February 26, 2013, 09:39:12 PM
Post by: huntnphool on February 26, 2013, 09:41:30 PM
Post by: jackelope on February 26, 2013, 09:49:51 PM
i dont think it died completly just ran like crap.
I'm not a tech and obviously cant diagnose it over the www contrary to popular belief, but I don't think your alternator is bad based on your description.
I'd look hard elsewhere. Maybe a connection.
Post by: Crunchy on February 27, 2013, 12:07:26 PM
Post by: huntnphool on February 27, 2013, 12:10:52 PM
Post by: jackelope on February 27, 2013, 12:16:39 PM
Post by: Mudman on February 27, 2013, 03:11:15 PM
Post by: dewandgin on February 27, 2013, 05:07:27 PM
Well this morning after charging the battery all night I started the rig up. Within a minute or two the battery light came on. I got the volt meter out and got the same reading 12-13volts running and off. Pulled the battery and had it tested. Battery was fine. Put the battery in and drove it to autozone. They checked the alternator at the battery and showed it was not getting a charge from the alternator. So pulled the alternator again and replaced it. No more battery warning light. Glad I avoided a trip to the dealership.
Could you please explain that last Statement?
We do not charge for battery/charging system test and we check connections also and do a voltage drop. Then if the alt was faulty we would have offered you the choices of having it replaced with a factory part, aftermarket part or not fix it at all and send you on your way.
Sometimes a faulty alternator will not show up cold as the recitifer bridge solder was probably cracked or cracking and as heat got to it the circuit would have a bad connection.
Post by: jackelope on February 27, 2013, 05:46:03 PM
Post by: Mudman on February 27, 2013, 05:49:40 PM
Perfect. Not sure why it would cause the car to run poorly but glad you got it figured out.I think the PCM is very sensitive. Some wont even start or run if volts are low even though there is still enuff juice to run em.
Post by: dewandgin on February 27, 2013, 09:47:48 PM
I think what he's saying is he fixed it himself so he didn't have to take it in to have someone else fix it.
If that's what he meant then that's cool :tup:. He just mentioned the dealership instead of a auto repair shop.