Ivan Yulaev

Ok, so on my Max, every once in the while the lights will start to pulse. This has been going on for some time, so I kind of ignored it. However, another issue creeped up. When I start it up, very infrequently, it behaves like the alt is not working (low voltage light is on, lights are as dim as when engine is not running). I suspect it is the alt. Any other possibilities? Belt tension is good (I think). It does not squeak at all.

How much is a reman alt, and where should I get one?

avmaldo

Check internetautomart's website he sells them, shiping will be a b!tch though.
Checkauto has them and they have a lifetime warranty on them, i just had my warranty honored with no problems.

Wiking

Clean its connectors, its fuse [near batt] and add contcat grease to each.

Ground the alt: the old alt shroud is NOT grounded to engine, needs a gnd wire.

see:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/10 etc

Buy reman alt once a year... around 100?

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Ivan Yulaev

Ok, tried tightening the alternator (5 turns? 8 turns? not much). Had NO effect. One thing I did
notice, is when it is doing the pulsing, it sounds like it is squeaking a little bit. Very subtle,
without the hood open, I would not hear it. Is this the belt slipping? In my experience, belt
slippage is VERY noticable, but this was a very quiet chirping, timed with the lights pulsing.
Still think it's the alt?

Vadim-93GXE

Does anybody know why when I push on my power window switches, the headlights pulse? My friend has rental 04' honda civic that does that too.. Whats up with that?

Wiking

BTW. What exactly u tightened?

Tighten and/or replace THE belt to proper tighness, dont fool with that cheapo. For me proper tighness meas that with some hard hand thumb force the belt will bend [midpoint] about 1/4" down.

...for comparison, seek autozone for their confuzeus opinions...

Light brightness is constant if voltage supply is constant. If lights dim, voltage has gone down. Voltage is lower if something loads the system, and/or alternator is not pushing constantly.

This is hard to see with digital volmeter, but with the cheap analog meters its easy to see needle wobble...


BTW. This is the reason [one of many] I love to have voltage [2.] gauge before any other mods: keeps u on the road...

click: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/13



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bvtran

iTrader: (3)

sounds like you're having electrical problems, where some of your wires insulator are worn/melted and cross talk. try getting some of those nice cable tubes (whatever they're call, it comes in a large range of rainbow colors). use it and isolate all of your wires. plus it makes your car looks prutty.

in regards to your alternator problem, just pull it out along with your batter and bring it to the store and have them test them for free.

Ivan Yulaev

Well, the deal is, sometimes, the alternator is not putting out any current at all (voltage @ 12.something), sometimes it is pulsing between 12.something and 14.right. Sometimes, it does not even pulse, and is putting out proper voltage all the time. It seems the pulsing is tied in to the engine speed, more revs == faster pulsing.

The thing is, our alt died about a year ago, and we had it replaced (no idea by whom, it was not my car then). I bet it's a faulty reman alt. I would hear slipping if the belt was bad, right?

Wiking

Might be also bad connector contacts or alt not grounding adequately. Check connectors: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/14

add one wire, see: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/10

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Ivan Yulaev

Wiking, where can I get a good grounding strap for the alt? I've looked all over, can't find anything :-\ I'd be willing to crimp my own, if that's what it takes.

hadman

iTrader: (21)

I have the exact same pulsing lights problem. I grounded the alt to the engine bay, but no improvement. Actually, I grounded the distributor and FI's too. Was hoping it would take care of my electrical woes but it didn't help. (pulsing headlights - gauges flicker and give false warnings, etc).
I guess my alt is bad? We'll see.

Wiking

Voltage reg might be half dead.

One good car electronics testing link: http://www.aeswave.com/TechNotes/ind...h%20Note%20003


Alt gnd: 'anything goes'. The thicker the better; should be flexible in cold waeather also if u ground it in chassis, not necessary if u ground it to engine block.