stupid stock alt!

[qu1cks1lver56]

ive known for a little while that my stock alt was getting weaker but i didnt know it was as weak as it is. this morning when i left to go to class it struggled turning over. and then on my way home it was raining so i had the windows up, a/c on, headlights on, wipers on, and my system on at about 1/3 volume and i happened to look down and all the dash lights were kind of dim and the battery light came on, so i turned everything off, put it in neutral and revved it up to about 2200 rpms and the light went back off within about 30-45 seconds. so i decided to go to the auto parts store and buy a cheap voltage gauge so i can keep an eye on the voltage. i hooked it up to the accessory wire since this one doesnt have a remote turn on or anything like that, its on or off, and its showing about 12.5-13 volts on the gauge with nothing on, and with the a/c on about 12.5 and then when i turn the headlights on with the a/c it drops to 12 volts. so now i need an alternator, great.

tl;dr - my voltage at idle is 12.5-13 with nothing on, my alt. sucks, and i need a new one.

[Iraggi Alternator]

That sucks..

Have you checked your batteries individually?

ive known for a little while that my stock alt was getting weaker but i didnt know it was as weak as it is. this morning when i left to go to class it struggled turning over. and then on my way home it was raining so i had the windows up, a/c on, headlights on, wipers on, and my system on at about 1/3 volume and i happened to look down and all the dash lights were kind of dim and the battery light came on, so i turned everything off, put it in neutral and revved it up to about 2200 rpms and the light went back off within about 30-45 seconds. so i decided to go to the auto parts store and buy a cheap voltage gauge so i can keep an eye on the voltage. i hooked it up to the accessory wire since this one doesnt have a remote turn on or anything like that, its on or off, and its showing about 12.5-13 volts on the gauge with nothing on, and with the a/c on about 12.5 and then when i turn the headlights on with the a/c it drops to 12 volts. so now i need an alternator, great.

tl;dr - my voltage at idle is 12.5-13 with nothing on, my alt. sucks, and i need a new one.

[Guest]

12.5 ouch.....doesnt that mean that your alt completely failed? or that 2 out of the 3 diodes shot out

[qu1cks1lver56]

my batter is floatin around 12.3-12.5 cuz its not been getting charged very well off of the alt. but i can throw it on a 2 amp charge over night and get it back to about 12.8

and idk much about alts, but im sure its about to completely shit out on me.

good news is i called a buddy of mine that has pretty much the same van sitting in his yard with a blown motor and he said i could have the alt off of it. so hopefully if its not rainin ill go get it tomorrow and run by a parts store and have them check it out before i put it in.

[Iraggi Alternator]

It means that either his alt is dead or can not produce the amperage his batts are trying to pull to reach normal 14+ voltage.

Just because voltage is under 13 doesnt mean an alt is not producing any current. This happens quite often when batts are bad or pulling alot of charging current.

12.5 ouch.....doesnt that mean that your alt completely failed? or that 2 out of the 3 diodes shot out

[Iraggi Alternator]

2 amps is not enough. I would use 10 amps overnite on an automatic charger.

Your batts should rest at 12.9 or higher after sitting off charge for 8-10 hrs.

my batter is floatin around 12.3-12.5 cuz its not been getting charged very well off of the alt. but i can throw it on a 2 amp charge over night and get it back to about 12.8

and idk much about alts, but im sure its about to completely shit out on me.

good news is i called a buddy of mine that has pretty much the same van sitting in his yard with a blown motor and he said i could have the alt off of it. so hopefully if its not rainin ill go get it tomorrow and run by a parts store and have them check it out before i put it in.

[qu1cks1lver56]

thanks, ill try a 10 amp charge overnight, ive always been told that a 2 amp overnight charge was the way to do it.

but i know its the alt, it seized up today for a couple seconds, and lus the battery isnt even 6 months old hardly

[z71kris]

at least you can get a new alt for cheap or free from the friend...

[Iraggi Alternator]

2 amps overnite is fine if its only one batt.... or not that drained.

[qu1cks1lver56]

its only one battery, but i got a new alt, my uncle put it in when he was working on fixing a couple things under the hood, ill probably get it tomorrow if he gets the fans working again.