citrus

hi guys

I think I have a bad alternator. Went to fill my car up with gas, drove 5 miles to the station, turned the car off, went to restart the car, it wouldn't start without a jump start. Immediately drove to auto parts store, put a volt meter on the battery. Volt meter read 12 volts. obviously if alternator was working, it should be putting out more than battery voltage. I don't know what this number is.... probably around 14 volts. Does it sound like a bad alternator? Can a bad alternator still work intermitently? What would be the best replacement alternator? Any tips?

thanks in advance

john

citrus

no comments

slownrusty

At idle should be 12.4V

Alternators typically can fail in strange ways and some can be intermittant.

Pelican Parts sell a good replacement, warning...they are not cheap.

Sounds like you are going to need one.

Yasin

hotscreen

Start from the battery how old is it and how it holds a charge , a collapsed cell will drain the battery .
Have it checked by Auto Zone i think they do it for free .
Any alternator should put out 14-15+ volts when above 2500 rpm
have someone inside the car disconnect the battery positive and negative and check what voltage it puts out at 1000rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm ( do not rev it too high for long time)
or take out the alternator and have it checked at Auto Zone or alternator repair shop

citrus

thanks for the help guys

A930Rocket

Check and clean all you connections including the starter. I replaced my alternator only to find my problem was a loose conection there.

My understanding is that you do not want to remove the battery cables from a runnning car. It can ruin the diodes. You can check the volts at the battery while it runs with an ohmmeter.

citrus

Thanks for the reply Rocket I was reading on the pelican forum about the same danger