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Re: Alternator replace? Rebuild? Compatibility? Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:15:59
In Reply to: Re: Alternator replace? Rebuild? Compatibility?, dim33, Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:36:28 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
It is never safe to assume that all symptoms point to one problem. You could have two separate issues. The approach is to troubleshoot the one that's giving you the most problem (not charging) in a systematic way. You'd be surprised how often that resolves the other one.
So I take it that the battery light never goes out. The first step is to make sure that the thin yellow (or green) wire going to the D+ post isn't inadvertantly grounded. If that happens, the battery light will be ON and the alternator won't work. At a minimum, do a visual inspection in the alternator area.
I also assume that the battery light was OFF with the old (bad VR). If that's true, the battery light came on with the 'new' VR and stays on. Two things come to mind - the VR was installed improperly, or it is defective. The other possibility would be a blown diode in the alternator, but it would be unlikely that would happen just as you replaced the VR. Not impossible, just unlikely. I gave up on impossible long ago.
This is what I'd do-
Visually inspect the thin wire to the D+ terminal. If it looks like it is shorted to ground, or someone connected it to an alternator bolt (ground) by accident, fix it.
Next, I'd disconnect the thin wire to the D+ terminal. Yes, access is a pain. Disconnected, the battery light should go out. If it stays ON, there is a short in the wire going to the battery light. You must fix this for the alternator to work.
If disconnecting the wire makes the light go out, reconnect the wire. You're now down to a few options-
Charge up the battery, and limp the car a short distance to a garage/shop where they can test the alternator in-car. They can hook up a scope and see if it's a bad diode. No, you can't really do it with a meter.
Or-
Take out the alternator, and bring it to a shop where they can test it. They'll be able to tell if the VR is bad or a diode is bad, or something else.
OR-
Pull the VR and stick a known good one in. If that fixes the problem, you've got a bad VR. This approach doesn't require pulling the alternator (assuming you can replace the VR with the alternator in-car). If you need to pull the alternator to replace the VR, then just honk it down to a shop and get it tested.
posted by 192.249....
, Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:19:12, Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:15:59 <-- Viewing This Message
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