Stangswagalicious
New Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2022
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
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Aye YUH. whats up wit it fams??
So, heres the story. Iv been a mechanic my whole life. Been wrenching for comming up on 16 years. A few years professionally even. And i can honestly say. That for the first time in my life, my shit box is doing me dirty and i can NOT figure it out
This is what i know:
Bought the car, did a bunch of work to get it reliable and wouldnt you know it, as soon as everything is going good, the 26 year old alternator takes a dump. Started showing 11.5 volts on the pillar gauge. So i replaced it. Easy right? HA!!!
New alternator goes on. Charges fine for a couple days then boom. Back down to 11.5 volts (which is less than battery voltage every time iv ever checked battery voltage). checked the commin grounds, cleaned battery terminals and it was all in vein. Warrantied out the alternator for another new one. Same thing. Seems to work for a day or 2 then back to 11.5. Only on this 2nd one, i noticed that the alternator would charge (14.5 volts) as long as it was warm outside. Had a few warm days so i didnt pay it any mind. Because it was working. But were back in another cold spell here in the great midwest and now im just sick of it. Replaced the alternator again. Only this time, i did it on a cold day and low and behold, first day it did its job just fine. Next day, back down to 11.5 again. F*€kn WHYYYYYYY
other random facts and helpful info:
When its not charging, the car is definitely running on battery power alone. Lights are dim, wipers move real slow, fan doesnt blow as fast, ect. And when this happens the voltage always starts out at 11.5 but will just keep dropping lower and lower as the drive goes on
Any time this happens, as soon as i get home i plug the battery up to a trickle charger. Dead batteries are NOT happy batteries
Also, the warmer it was, the better the chances that it would randomly start charging properly at some point throughout the drive. did this many o times but if it was too cold it would never charge at all.
Iv heard of the fusible links. But like… if its bad how could it work sometimes??? Lastly, my educated guess tells me its either faulty voltage regulators (but honestly… 3 in a row?) OR, whatever is actually communicating with the voltage regulator is on the fritz. Has anyone ever experienced something like this??
Questions that i cant find answers to:
What is actually controlling/communicating with the voltage regulator? (Whats on the other end of the wires connected to the voltage regulator)
Can a fusible link be half bad and work sometimes? Doesnt seem realistic to me.
Anything at all helps. I could definitely use some help on this and would appreciate any input at all
So, heres the story. Iv been a mechanic my whole life. Been wrenching for comming up on 16 years. A few years professionally even. And i can honestly say. That for the first time in my life, my shit box is doing me dirty and i can NOT figure it out
This is what i know:
Bought the car, did a bunch of work to get it reliable and wouldnt you know it, as soon as everything is going good, the 26 year old alternator takes a dump. Started showing 11.5 volts on the pillar gauge. So i replaced it. Easy right? HA!!!
New alternator goes on. Charges fine for a couple days then boom. Back down to 11.5 volts (which is less than battery voltage every time iv ever checked battery voltage). checked the commin grounds, cleaned battery terminals and it was all in vein. Warrantied out the alternator for another new one. Same thing. Seems to work for a day or 2 then back to 11.5. Only on this 2nd one, i noticed that the alternator would charge (14.5 volts) as long as it was warm outside. Had a few warm days so i didnt pay it any mind. Because it was working. But were back in another cold spell here in the great midwest and now im just sick of it. Replaced the alternator again. Only this time, i did it on a cold day and low and behold, first day it did its job just fine. Next day, back down to 11.5 again. F*€kn WHYYYYYYY
other random facts and helpful info:
When its not charging, the car is definitely running on battery power alone. Lights are dim, wipers move real slow, fan doesnt blow as fast, ect. And when this happens the voltage always starts out at 11.5 but will just keep dropping lower and lower as the drive goes on
Any time this happens, as soon as i get home i plug the battery up to a trickle charger. Dead batteries are NOT happy batteries
Also, the warmer it was, the better the chances that it would randomly start charging properly at some point throughout the drive. did this many o times but if it was too cold it would never charge at all.
Iv heard of the fusible links. But like… if its bad how could it work sometimes??? Lastly, my educated guess tells me its either faulty voltage regulators (but honestly… 3 in a row?) OR, whatever is actually communicating with the voltage regulator is on the fritz. Has anyone ever experienced something like this??
Questions that i cant find answers to:
What is actually controlling/communicating with the voltage regulator? (Whats on the other end of the wires connected to the voltage regulator)
Can a fusible link be half bad and work sometimes? Doesnt seem realistic to me.
Anything at all helps. I could definitely use some help on this and would appreciate any input at all