bennuss

My alternator is giving out intermittently 14.1 or fluctuates down to 11.8 tested with a multimeter at the battery terminals while the car was idling. Is there anyway to test at the alternator directly ( without removing the alternator ) avoiding the cabling that runs to the battery. The contact points are under the harness connector so no way of getting a multimeter in there.

How would I test there is there a parasitic draw?
I tested at the diagnostic port and the computer gives me 11.4 at idle from a cold start after driving a little and then idling i get 13.2 .
Time for a new alternator? I changed it 3 years ago. Should it die so quickly?
Whats interesting is the battery light came on for a little bit but then went off and hasn't come back on.

03artist

Maybe it's just me and I haven't had good luck with my alternator. I have a 2003 max and I bought my alternator from oreilly and I've used the warranty and replaced it 3 times within the last 2 years. One made it a full year, the next 4 months and then next 8 months. Maybe their alts just suck or I do but I can tell you I can change out the alternator in about 30 mins now lol

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Check and see that the connections on the alternator are are tight and solid. Check that little 2 wire plug real good. If the wires are OK, the alternator is going out. The voltage regulators are supposed to regulate at 14.1 to 14.7 volts.

Rebuilt alternators don't seem to last anywhere near as long as the original. When you replace it, DO NOT buy a new alternator made in China. The people that have do not have any kind words for them.

Lontar1

iTrader: (5)

yes just do the same you are doing directly on the top bolt in the alternator and ground it.

george__

iTrader: (1)

Been through 2 but the third one has held up for about 6 months

MichMaxFan

Took me WAY too long to change my alternator. But that was my first time doing it and I work slow the first time so I don't have to do it over.

Anyway...so GLAD I took mine to a rebuild shop and had it redone for me in about an hour.
..this way could keep my same unit, save money, and be comfortable with it working well for me. $75 and 9months later it still works great. Hopefully lasts as long as the original did...13years!!!

Find a rebuild shop....cheaper than auto store and much better in my opinion.

venturous

Last week while making a 130 mile round trip in my 03 I35, while pulling a trailer, I noticed my battery and brake light was on. I turned off everything I did not need and made it within three miles to my house. What stopped me was the drive by wire throttle no longer worked, even though the engine was still running. That appears to happen when battery voltage drops to about 11.5.
So, I pull the alternator and take it to the local rebuild shop and the regulator is bad. New regulator change out and good to go. Put the alternator back in and started it up and no lights. Took about a 50 mile trip yesterday and again it stopped, but this time, no lights came on. Checked battery and it was again at about 11.5 volts and this was after a long charge before the trip. I pulled the battery and again charged it to get the car home. The only thing I checked was with it running, it died instantly when I loosened the negative battery terminal. I am going to pull the alternator again and have it tested, but what concerns me is that I did not get any kind of warning with lights this time.
Anybody got any suggestions on the warning lights?

bennuss

I also only got the warning lights initially then for whatever reason they stopped and did not come on over the next two days but the alternator was bad. I tested using the obdII port and had it tested at autozone. New one now . Alot easier to change than the scaremongering that some of the threads had.

erictown

Do you have any idea what are those little 2 wire plugs for? I got a loose connection there, lock was broken, so far I noticed nothing wrong.

Thank you for reply.

venturous

I went back to the electrical shop today and the guy took the alternator back apart. He found there was a cracked connection between the rotor coil windings and the commutator strips. He used high temp solder then put it back on the test unit and ran it under load for a while. After several minutes it again failed, so I ordered a replacement that should be in tomorrow.