just washed it..alternator light
09-24-2004 | 10:46 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 724
Likes: 1
From: SW Pa
just washed it..alternator light
Just washed the car and started it and the alternator light won't go out unless I rev the engine above 3 grand......I am hoping something just got wet and will be OK when it dries....new alternator last month.... 
09-24-2004 | 01:32 PM
#7
Three Wheelin'
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,815
Likes: 2
From: Louisville, Ky/Altanta, GA (Georgia Tech)
Take a mutilmeter to the batt terminals when the car is off, should read somewhere around 12.5v dc. Then start the car, if the voltage drops the alternator is not charging, I've been there, just last week, probably should be okay when you let it dry out. Try not to get the engine bay wet nexti time, there are tricks to that, but i have learned the lesson about washing the engine.
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09-24-2004 | 01:54 PM
#8
Nordschleife Master
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 5,159
Likes: 1
From: Minneapolis, USA
Besides belt problems there is a little blue "exciter" wire. There is a 2 prong white molex plug up at the top of the fireawall on the left side of the engine bay. One wire is the blue exciter and the other is a larger red wire that is the starter solenoid trigger.
The exciter wire runs though the starter/alternator harness to the alternator. Here is more than you would ever want to know about what the exciter wire does:
http://www.audiurquattro.de/ralf/inf...Alternator.pdf
I'd first dry out the engine bay but that may not solve the problems if you run the engine before everything is dried out. It took me a month and many hundred dollars to replace all the sensors that went south when I washed my engine bay. It was quite the nightmare.
As it sounds like you just washed the outside of the car I hope you have an easier go at solution.
The exciter wire runs though the starter/alternator harness to the alternator. Here is more than you would ever want to know about what the exciter wire does:
http://www.audiurquattro.de/ralf/inf...Alternator.pdf
I'd first dry out the engine bay but that may not solve the problems if you run the engine before everything is dried out. It took me a month and many hundred dollars to replace all the sensors that went south when I washed my engine bay. It was quite the nightmare.
As it sounds like you just washed the outside of the car I hope you have an easier go at solution.
09-24-2004 | 05:07 PM
#9
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,049
Likes: 0
From: Long Island, NY
Originally Posted by IceShark
Besides belt problems there is a little blue "exciter" wire. There is a 2 prong white molex plug up at the top of the fireawall on the left side of the engine bay. One wire is the blue exciter and the other is a larger red wire that is the starter solenoid trigger.
The exciter wire runs though the starter/alternator harness to the alternator. Here is more than you would ever want to know about what the exciter wire does:
http://www.audiurquattro.de/ralf/inf...Alternator.pdf
I'd first dry out the engine bay but that may not solve the problems if you run the engine before everything is dried out. It took me a month and many hundred dollars to replace all the sensors that went south when I washed my engine bay. It was quite the nightmare.
As it sounds like you just washed the outside of the car I hope you have an easier go at solution.
The exciter wire runs though the starter/alternator harness to the alternator. Here is more than you would ever want to know about what the exciter wire does:
http://www.audiurquattro.de/ralf/inf...Alternator.pdf
I'd first dry out the engine bay but that may not solve the problems if you run the engine before everything is dried out. It took me a month and many hundred dollars to replace all the sensors that went south when I washed my engine bay. It was quite the nightmare.
As it sounds like you just washed the outside of the car I hope you have an easier go at solution.
