[tater302]

What is the easiest way to see if my alternator is gone bad? My car has a new red top battery, so i know that isn't the problem so it has to be the alternator right? I went to crank it up last week and nothing just clicked so I jumped it off with my truck, I drove the car for about thirty mins came and came home. The next day I try to crank and it turned over slowly then cranked up, i let it run for about ten mins and cut it off. The next day the battery was dead the starter wouldn't even turn over. Would buying a new alternator be better than getting this one rebuilt? I just want to spend $215 Bucks just for a alternator!!

[00vabchgt]

remove the alternator and take it to advance auto and have them test it. or you can find out the hard way like i did last year with my truck...

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by tater302 What is the easiest way to see if my alternator is gone bad? My car has a new red top battery, so i know that isn't the problem so it has to be the alternator right? I went to crank it up last week and nothing just clicked so I jumped it off with my truck, I drove the car for about thirty mins came and came home. The next day I try to crank and it turned over slowly then cranked up, i let it run for about ten mins and cut it off. The next day the battery was dead the starter wouldn't even turn over. Would buying a new alternator be better than getting this one rebuilt? I just want to spend $215 Bucks just for a alternator!!

Go to the auto parts store and have them test it.. they can test it on the vehicle for free.

Also, you can put a voltmeter to it while running, you should be reading 13.2+

[R3dFyre02]

when all three of mine went out they would test it and it would work most of the time... had one guy run it through the whole test three times in a row and passed failed passed... i finally just ran fused wire straight from the battery into my cabin where I put it on my DMM. while driving around i saw my volts go from a nice healthy 14.3 to below 12.... replaced my alt and everything cleared up.

now i am searching on Ebay and what not for a blown stocker and i am going to have it rebuilt but wound to put out 200 amps and that way i can run it and have my current working one as a spare, plus i will have the benifit of more amperage so my stereo will be even happier...

[tater302]

I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that when I'm driving to work in the mornings with the lights on they will dim when ever I come to a stop. So I figured the alternator was going bad.

[tater302]

Alright guys so I removed the alternator and took it to star electric a local auto electric repair shop, and they tested the alternator and it was working fine. So I told them to take it apart a double check everything, and still everything was working fine. They told me something must be drawing power so I removed my aftermarket radio to see if that is the problem, because it is the only electric thing I've changed in the last few months. Maybe this will fix my problem if anyone has any more ideas let me know.

[Nightmare69]

Are you a LEO?

[cbjohnson9]

is your voltage light ever coming on?

[tater302]

No my voltage light never comes on.

[tater302]

Originally Posted by Nightmare69 Are you a LEO?

yes i work for the sheriff's office

[cbjohnson9]

sounds like something is drawing power from your battery. If the car continues to run and no voltage light comes on while driving...doesn't sound like alternator

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by tater302 Alright guys so I removed the alternator and took it to star electric a local auto electric repair shop, and they tested the alternator and it was working fine. So I told them to take it apart a double check everything, and still everything was working fine. They told me something must be drawing power so I removed my aftermarket radio to see if that is the problem, because it is the only electric thing I've changed in the last few months. Maybe this will fix my problem if anyone has any more ideas let me know.

Do you have subs or an aftermarket alarm?

[tater302]

nope no subs or aftermarket alarm, only an aftermarket radio which I have removed to see if the battery goes dead.

[bigjohnstud4200]

Did you buy the battery b/c your other one was dead or was it an upgrade?

[tater302]

it was an upgrade, to the dry cell red top optima

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by tater302 it was an upgrade, to the dry cell red top optima

If it still dies, try taking putting the other battery back in and see what happens.. maybe you got a bad battery?

[tater302]

alright so after taking out the radio, i let the car set for a day and went to crank it up an hour ago and it fired right up!!! I think I've found the problem the aftermarket radio was drawing fire while the key was off.

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by tater302 alright so after taking out the radio, i let the car set for a day and went to crank it up an hour ago and it fired right up!!! I think I've found the problem the aftermarket radio was drawing fire while the key was off.

who wired it up? does it have a wiring harness or did they cut the factory and manually wire it up?

[tater302]

A car audio shop wired it up and used a wiring harness, I think is a short in the power wire coming out of the radio because i pulled the radio out with the key on and it kept cutting on and off when i moved the radio so I'm pretty sure I got me a bad connection or something in the harness.

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by tater302 A car audio shop wired it up and used a wiring harness, I think is a short in the power wire coming out of the radio because i pulled the radio out with the key on and it kept cutting on and off when i moved the radio so I'm pretty sure I got me a bad connection or something in the harness.

good to know you are narrowing it down.. now if I could only figure out my damn ABS system..