suspect alternator is bad...

[checkbit]

1998 3.8L A4 camaro: last night i went to run some errands. i got maybe 1/4 mile away from my house and the 'check gages' light came on. i noticed that my battery gage read low voltage (if i had to guess, approx. 10 volts). i went back home and let the car idle in the garage for a few miutes and it didn't change. this morning, when i started the car the gage read low again, but almost immediately recovered (just above 13 volts). i drove to work almost without incident - when i stopped the gage would drop below 13 volts and recover as soon as i began accelerating, again.

i suspect the alternator needs to be replaced. i'm just looking for some input on this before i dropped $150-200 on a new one.

[lubsvitek]

Re: suspect alternator is bad...

Check all the wire leads, especially the grounds just to make sure you're not missing something.

To test the alternator to make sure, turn the car on, take a voltmeter and measure a ground together with the positive lead coming from the alternator (leading go the battery). You should read about 13.8 to 14.2volts, anything below that chances are its shot.

Sounds like what I had before my alternator died, if I were you I would fix it before driving it again to save the hassle of it dying on the street and having to get it towed. BTW a rebuilt alternator is perfectly OK, and you can get most for under 100 bucks online (parts stores, i wouldn't trust ebay).

[Rob Bell]

Re: suspect alternator is bad...

I would agree, it sounds like the alternator is dead/dying.

[ssms5411]

Re: suspect alternator is bad...

Anything over 13 volts is fine for ALT. output mine is around 13.2-13.6 volts, if it is below then yes your Alt. is shot. I would also make sure your battery is good since it wasn't getting a good charge, might cause a cell to go bad in the battery.

[checkbit]

Re: suspect alternator is bad...

i tested the alternator with my multimeter and it was rather erratic ranging 0 to 13 volts. so, i installed a new duralast gold alternator. i tested it with the multimeter and it read a constant 14.5 volts. i'll keep an eye on it for a week or so, and if nothing goes wrong, i'll consider the problem solved.

[landj]

Re: suspect alternator is bad...

i tested the alternator with my multimeter and it was rather erratic ranging 0 to 13 volts. so, i installed a new duralast gold alternator. i tested it with the multimeter and it read a constant 14.5 volts. i'll keep an eye on it for a week or so, and if nothing goes wrong, i'll consider the problem solved.

I installed one of those Duralast Golds. 6 months later had a squeaky belt. A new belt tensioner, a new water pump and countless hours spent with my head under the hood led me finally to the faulty part. The new Duralast Gold Alternator from Autozone. What a piece of ****. They had the casing so far out of spec that it was causing the belt to ride a quarter inch off track on the waterpump (making me think it was bad because that's where the squealing was coming from).

Moral (one of two ways to look at it). Don't let your friends buy Autozone electrical parts.

I would love to have chucked this one up to bad luck, but a friend of mine bought an Autozone starter and nearly lost his car when it shorted causing the battery cable to incinerate.

The only good thing is that I managed to get the store to take back the part.

Hope you have better luck than I did with Autozone.

[checkbit]

Re: suspect alternator is bad...

I installed one of those Duralast Golds. 6 months later had a squeaky belt. A new belt tensioner, a new water pump and countless hours spent with my head under the hood led me finally to the faulty part. The new Duralast Gold Alternator from Autozone. What a piece of ****. They had the casing so far out of spec that it was causing the belt to ride a quarter inch off track on the waterpump (making me think it was bad because that's where the squealing was coming from).

Moral (one of two ways to look at it). Don't let your friends buy Autozone electrical parts.

I would love to have chucked this one up to bad luck, but a friend of mine bought an Autozone starter and nearly lost his car when it shorted causing the battery cable to incinerate.

The only good thing is that I managed to get the store to take back the part.

Hope you have better luck than I did with Autozone.

i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

then only gripe i've ever had with autozone is their poor customer service in the stores. the employees almost always seem to have a bad attitude. but that topic, i believe, has already been covered in another thread...