Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

I still lead towards the ground, although I cant see what that screw does with just a picture.

As for the cover, that would protect the shaft. Needed, maybe not, but it was put there because at one point something DID happen... probably once in history LoL

Yupthatguy

By chance before all this when you turn your vehicle on cold start did it show 14.4v then as it was getting warm it was slowly losing voltage to the point it got to 12.4v??? I need to now what you did repaired the issue...

dwoods801

Your vehicles electrical system should maintain 14.4V at all times while it's running. Maybe an older vehicle will see the system voltage fall to 12.4V while your running the headlights and the stereo system at high volume, along with the A/C running full blast. If your pulling alot of amps on older vehicle with an older battery, it wouldn't be unusual to see the voltage drop to 12.4V. do you have a Voltmeter installed and this lower voltage is concerning? Or have you had some issues, and this is something you have found while diagnosing the problem? If there has been some specific problems, please share them, and I can help you identify the problem. Just having lower Voltage could be caused by a few things. Just an example: if you start the car, the idle will be raised for a moment, the raised RPM's might be spinning the alternator fast enough for the output to reach 14.4V, but when the RPM's drop, the alternator might not be spinning fast enough to maintain the 14.4V. also it's possible your Serpentine belt is worn out and is slipping on the alternator pulley, so it's not spinning fast enough to maintain 14.4V. maybe there is some major corrosion built up in on of the main power cables and that's limiting the amount of voltage that's able to reach the electrical system? An easy way to check this is with a pair of jumper cables. And just run one cable in each path, and see if the voltage increases. Like connect one end to the main output on the back of the alternator and the end to your + battery terminal and then see what the voltage is? You also want to check the - battery terminal and the engine block, make sure the ground is good.

Yupthatguy

Okay my first original alternator blow back in 11/14/23 was good till 5/05/24 then I replace the alternator because the power steering was leaking on it then replace the alternator and pump then i test drive I blow the alternator again (took it to get tested at 3 place fail bench test) got a new one then installed it it was good for 2 days then I did another full throttle pull and the battery light turned on the next day took my alternator to get tested and it fail again got another one and Installed it and when I went to go drive it it was good then I did a full throttle pull the battery light came on took the alternator to bench test fail got another one but from different seller OE+ I put it in did the big 3 and put a 4g on the alternator nipple to the battery + but I left the one to the fuse box alone and its still read from cold start 14.5 to 13.09 when it warms up then I turn on the a/c and music o e it drop to 12.5 I thought I has to be at 13.5 no matter what

dwoods801

sounds like you have had quite the hassle dealing with this. If the battery warming light in the gauges isn't coming on when your driving, then I wouldn't worry about the voltage reading 13.09. I have a 200 amp alternator and did the Big3 upgrade, I actually went another step further and relocated my battery to the trunk. So I could run an H8 size battery instead of a group 34. I installed a voltmeter in my dash and it never reads above 14.0V and often it reads lower than that. I also have a voltmeter on the batter and I have noticed that it reads about a half volt lower than what the dash one reads. So clearly the further you get from the alternator, the lower the voltage.

Yupthatguy

but after left the car idol for 15mins or more the voltage will slowly will read to 12.48 as it warms up and when I rev it, It will go up to 14.5 but go back down to 12.3 (full load music a/c head light on)

lexsc3

I just did my alternator and I have a cheap volt meter/USB charger at the cigarette lighter. My car does the same thing. It must disengage at idle or tapper itself down. I got worried but I kept an eye on it while driving and it seems to push out a good amount of volts. It only drops at idle. I'm not concern about it unless you expect to idle a lot and drain the battery while doing so. If the car is moving it should be fine.
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dwoods801

actually I think that most alternators are designed this way. At idle, they just make enough power to keep the voltage stable, and until the engine reaches 1700 rpms, that the alternator is going to start putting out enough power for the battery to fully charge and the system to reach 14.4V

lexsc3

It might be ECU programing with certain cars. Like my Audi has a volt meter on the dash and it's constant all the time. I could see Toyota/Lexus taking the load off the engine at idle to improve gas mileage.

I know on my SC300 I have a subwoofer and it will dim the lights at idle but never when I'm driving. I will put my cigarettes lighter volt meter into my other cars next time I drive them to see how the alternators act.

Yupthatguy

My car completely stock (has coilover) so far everything I did to this point my battery light hasn't turned on yet. So far so good, I'm going To drive the car to the beach to give it a good test drive, hopefully i don't stall out while I'm with my lady... (finger cross)

dwoods801

keep an eye on the voltmeter, if the voltage starts dropping then shut off the radio and everything possible and head for an AutoZone or something and you can have them charge the battery, a fully charged battery should keep the car running for 50 miles or more if you keep the draw as low as possible.

Yupthatguy

I took my car to O'Reilly to get the battery and and alternator tested.. battery passed but need to be charge and the alternator the diode pass but it's not producing voltage

dwoods801

Do you have a multi meter? When O’Reilly does an alternator test, they are just checking the amps and voltage at the battery and passing judgment on the charging system based on the numbers at the battery. And that can be useful, but in this case it doesn’t tell u if the culprit is a bad alternator that isn’t producing enough voltage? Or if that voltage just isn’t reaching back to the battery? And that could be due to bad battery cables. You need to get a multi meter and verify what the voltage is reading on the Alternator main output post. Put your meter on Volts DC and then put your positive lead on the alternator output and the negative on the battery negative and see what the voltage is? While the vehicle is running, it should be 14.4V, if it is you need to find out why it’s not getting back to the battery. You can try moving the negative lead to a good spot on the chassis and the engine block, and see if that helps? If it does, you have a problem with the ground.

McPierson

iTrader: (3)

Is the battery light on?
Is the “sense alternator” fuse good?
Try a jumper cable from the BODY of the alternator to the battery ground. Does the output voltage jump up?

naluloa

Really waiting for Kameleon to tell us what it was. I just read the whole novel to see what the conclusion was, only to see we're at a "To be continued..."

My money says it's that screw he put in.