Re: update to my battery light/low charge problem

[jtrealty@xxxx]

A "new" alternater can be blown out by jumping the car incorrectly or 
shorting the output to ground even for a second. The way I check for a 
loose belt is to try to turn the pulley on the alternater by the fan 
behind the pulley. It should be hard to turn and it should move the 
belt. Too tight and you will blow the bearings in the alternater and 
wear out the belt. I have seen where the pulleys are worn and the belt 
is touching the bottom of the pulley. It should only touch the sides. 
You can purchase a gauge to check for a worn pulley. The wrong belt 
that isn't the right angle will slip under heat and load. You need to 
have the alternater bench tested and if needed they are repairable or 
rebuildable at much less than replacement cost. One blown diode will 
reduce the output significantly and impose an AC voltage on the system 
which will blow light bulbs and destroy the battery. Most places will 
put a charging system analyzer on the car for free (like Sears) and 
will pinpoint the problem for you.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757


--- In dmcnews@xxxx, Soma576@xxxx wrote:
> Hey all,
> 
> to recap, my problem is this:
> 
> for the last month or so, every now and then my battery light would 
flicker 
> for a few seconds and then go out again, usually accompanied by a 
brief drop 
> in voltage on my gauge, to about 10 volts or so, then it would go 
back up on 
> it's own. this would especially happen during high RPM's, but 
seemed to also 
> be somewhat random. then this last week, things got ugly. on the 
way home 
> from work ( a 10 mile drive) my battery light was constantly 
flickering and 
> my voltage was down around 8-10 for almost the entire drive home. i 
have a 
> 130 amp alternator installed by the previous owner a little over a 
year ago, 
> with new belts this spring by myself.
> 
> anyway, i posted earlier this week on what i should inspect. i have 
so far 
> inspected my battery connections - they are tight. i checked the 
front 
> ground strap - i cleaned it and reattached it. i checked the rear 
trailing 
> arm ground strap - it is still epoxied over so i decided to leave 
well enough 
> alone. i tightened my belt (it had a little slack in it) and 
started the 
> car. it's still only running at 8-10 volts.
> 
> now what do i do? do i have to bite the bullet and order a new 
alternator? 
> it's hard to believe that this one hardly lasted longer than a 
year!! 
> 
> which DMC vendor offered the 130-amp alternator? i checked through a 
few 
> sites tonight but no one had this alternator listed. what is the 
track 
> record of it?? should i reduce down to the 105-amp alternator, or 
should i 
> get the much cheaper 150 amp alternator? and is the voltage 
regulator 
> serviceable without rebuilding the entire alternator?
> 
> any advice would be greatly appreciated about now because this is 
quite a 
> show-stopper!
> 
> Andy