I was driving along, came to a stop, and the car died. I sat there cranking for about 5 seconds, but it sounded as if the battery was nearly dead.

I let it sit for 10-15 seconds, then tried again. After 10 seconds of starting, it finally cranked over. I immediately noticed my display was dim and the battery indicator was sitting at 10v. I quickly got my car into a parking lot where I checked to make sure my alternator belt was still intact. I checked out a few other things (battery terminals/etc) and couldn't find anything that looked broken. Car wouldn't really start again, so I took out my jumper-kit (thank god I bought this thing) and got my car started with it. I ended up leaving the thing connected to my battery in the trunk to try and get home.

I finally get home, and start probing around with a multimeter. With the car off, the battery reads about 11.6v. With the car started, voltage only reads 9.5v and goes down if I turn on any accessories.

I turn the car off, disconnect the battery, then get under the car and remove/reinstall the wires going to the alternator. I beat it a couple times with a rubber mallet and start the car again. Same thing. I checked the small green wire on the alternator and got 9.5v (battery voltage), and the same for the larger red wire. The alternator *may* also have been making a very soft grinding noise, but its hard to tell.

My alternator is probably toast, right?

 

Most likely it is, if all connections are good. Belt slippage would still make some charge. Old batterys can put a big strain on an alternator. Consider swapping that too, if it is real old. Replaced the alternator in the wifes car and a few months later replaced it again- this time with the battery. Good time to check the belts and hoses as well.

 

Once again, 928 International has come to the rescue and helped me get my shark back on the road. What's that... the 4th time?

 

Michael, care to let us know how they helped or confirm it was a dead alter?

 

Mike installed a good used alternator at a cost of $150 and the car is now happy , Mike is happy ,he has his old core for spare parts or to rebuild , .........we are happy to have the $150.

 

AHHHH...Capitalism is alive and well!

God Bless the Big 3!

 

Its a win-win-win situation!

This alternator appears to work better than my old alternator. When I started up my car with the old one, it would sit right at the 12v line or slightly below it (actually measuring with a voltmeter shows 13-13.5v). Revving the car to 2K would put the needle slightly above the 12v mark, but that's about it.

The new alternator starts up above the 12v line (I think I measured 13.5-13.7), and revving to 2K puts it just north of the 12 and 14 marks.... something I never saw with the old alternator.

Now... to find someone who can re-wire these things for more juice...

 

Mike with the modified blower pulley what speed are you turning the alternator compared to stock ?

 

Please, please......it is not capitalism.....it is specialization of labor. Each party does what he/she wishes to do and does best.

 

I'm pretty sure the blower pulley is the same size as stock.

I'm also pretty sure I know what happened to the alternator. A month or 2 ago it was raining like CRAZY. I had to drive through this extremely deep puddle, and I think in doing so, I got the alternator wet. It actually was making some interesting noises, but the noises went away after a while... so I thought it might have been OK.

 

"The new alternator starts up above the 12v line (I think I measured 13.5-13.7), and revving to 2K puts it just north of the 12 and 14 marks.... something I never saw with the old alternator."

The 928 battery voltage guage is a real "joke" the way it's hooked-up. Most any load
on the electrical system affects what the guage indicates. Therefore, you never really
know the true alternator voltage.

I've modified some 928 instrument clusters to "read" the true alternator voltage and thereby
get a more realistic indication of the alternator voltage.

Bottomline: If the needle moves up, the alternator is probably charging. Want more info, flip a coin.