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04-25-2015, 09:58 PM | #21 | |
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Location: Sugar Land, TX
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
Quote:
Touch a hot wire to the field wire and it will resume charging. A three wire has juice to the field all the time I think. I bought a perfectly good $200 alternator for $25 because it wouldn't charge. Worked fine after exciting the field. |
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04-25-2015, 10:19 PM | #22 | |
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
Quote:
2) With the battery installed, take a reading. (should be the same as above) 3) Start the car and double check that the voltage changes as before. (12.6 down to 10.5) 4) Step on the gas and see if voltage changes. (the Alt may just need to speed up before it generates voltage.) 5) Shut down the car. Take a voltage reading. 6) Remove the wire from the Alt. Start the car and take a reading. Does the voltage drop as before?
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04-26-2015, 12:56 AM | #23 |
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Location: Mpls, MN
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
10.5 volts is OK while cranking, but if that's the reading after starting the engine, then the battery is way low on charge, or no good. Put a long slow charge on the battery and try that again.
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04-26-2015, 01:19 AM | #24 | |
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
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Like I said, he will most likely clear it up for us later.
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What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do some thing about them. - Henry Ford II |
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04-26-2015, 01:36 AM | #25 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Phoenix, Oregon
Posts: 661
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
Stop replacing parts....please.
Test the voltage at the alternator's battery terminal and at the battery. Repeat with the engine running at fast idle. the alternator should go to 14.5V fast idle, the battery should read very close to the same. Report back. While you're at it touch the pulley and make sure it isn't hot. If the two readings are more than 3/4V apart you have an issue, 1 to 1 1/2V you have a problem. No offense to NAPA but their alternators are nothing to write home about, they keep me in business.. Think plumbing, your alternator is a pump, if the pipe from the pump to the water-meter (amp meter), is broken you will see nothing on the water (amp) meter, it a pipe is broken or plugged you will never fill your pot (battery) with water. So we need to see it the water from the pump is the same at the water pot. If not with that voltmeter you will follow the water pressure from one point to the other, alternator to battery.. The simple view. It late, I'm tired, hope it reads right.
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04-26-2015, 01:40 PM | #26 |
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Location: Texas
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
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Well, I charged up my 15-month-old CarQuest 'premium' 12V battery so it read 12.6V on my voltmeter. I reinstalled the alternator and battery. I had 12.6V at the alternator. I started the engine and bingo! The ampmeter needed moved to the positive side and the battery voltage increased when I revved the engine, just like it's supposed to. The only thing I can think of that caused this entire issue to occur must be that my battery's charge was low after sitting idle for several weeks. There was plenty of cranking power to start the engine, but its low voltage apparently caused the alternator to discharge the battery rather than charge it. There may be another answer, but that's the only one I can think of. Anyway, all's well that ends well. Thanks again to all who provided me with your wise counsel. Happy Motoring! Texas Tom |
04-26-2015, 07:46 PM | #27 |
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Location: Asheville,NC
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
Guess I was close since it was the battery after all.
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04-26-2015, 09:51 PM | #28 |
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Location: Phoenix, Oregon
Posts: 661
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
TT, if the battery is low but the car will start the amp gauge should reflect a heavy charge, it is what it is there for...
Keep an eye on things, maybe you are out of the woods. Just an fyi, typically if the battery is bad it will not take current. If you put a line charger on it you would see the voltage rise but not the current. It one of many indicators but not a definitive test. A shorted battery will take a lot of current but the voltage will not rise, typically. I only mention this as withot tools it is a way to narrow it down. As Bill W suggest batteries are a mystery. We have a $6,000 battery checker and charger. It is pretty damn good but not at 100%. That is to say dispite a positive good reading, if all other issuses are good too, out goes the battery.
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04-26-2015, 09:54 PM | #29 |
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Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Middleburg, Virginia
Posts: 421
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
See how it does in a couple of days just sitting. I had the exact same problem. Charge the battery and the truck would start. Even overnight no go. Turned out the battery had a dead cell. Hope this isn't your case.
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04-27-2015, 06:39 AM | #30 |
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Re: Alternator & ampmeter are fine...NOW WHAT?
Exactly the way mine acted. I could jump it off or charge the battery and start it but the ammeter would show nothing nor would the alternator charge. Shortly the battery would go down till it would no longer start the car or light the lights. New battery and all has been good for the last 4 years. Bout time for a new one now.
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