Alternator

[Calibra_Mike]

Right my powr issue problem seems to be down to the alternator, however, I took it off today and opened it up, everything seems to be fine inside, brushes have loads of life in them, they're making contact, no wires or connections look broken, so refitted it, still got the problem of the battery not charging???

Anyone got any ideas?

Im going to test the cables tomorrow going to and from the alternator to make sure, theres no brakes in them or they aren't shorting out on something...

If they are fine then Im going to be copletely stumped? The alternator does have moments when it works then other times it doesnt...

[big_gordy]

i have an idea m8......


just buy a new 1 and stop waisting your time,,,,lol

[Fraz]

would have to agree..get a new one , more in an alternator than the bushes to go wrong, The Diode Rectifier Bridge or voltage regulator ..I presume you never checked them?

[EY]

As Fraz says, the voltage regulator could be F****d, you can't see that.

[Calibra_Mike]

Took the alternator to a specialist today, its testing fine, no problems with it, regulator is fine etc... So it must be a wiring problem...

wasting my time, i think not, just saved myself the cash on a new one... cheers for the advice there peeps

[Calibra_Mike]

Needed a new wire fromt he negative terminal on the alternator to the battery, all fixed and running now...

[Phantom]

it seems that with the calibra getting older now, certain cables such as the charging circuits are failing, my 16V suffers from this

[Fraz]

wasting my time, i think not, just saved myself the cash on a new one... cheers for the advice there peeps

kinda hard to diagnose a problem over a web page...and we can only offer advice on the facts given. You did say you had tested the bushs, but there is more to testing an alternator than looking at bushs....still glad you got it sorted

[Fraz]

the 8V does as the bracket has rubber bushs...same setup for the Cavalier

[MR Gee]

Right my powr issue problem seems to be down to the alternator, however, I took it off today and opened it up, everything seems to be fine inside, brushes have loads of life in them, they're making contact, no wires or connections look broken, so refitted it, still got the problem of the battery not charging???

Anyone got any ideas?

Im going to test the cables tomorrow going to and from the alternator to make sure, theres no brakes in them or they aren't shorting out on something...

If they are fine then Im going to be copletely stumped? The alternator does have moments when it works then other times it doesnt...

My first post and starts without introduction except I own a Calibra Ecotech, but lets get down to business, your alternator charges sometimes and not everytime, did you get the red battery light come up on the dash when it is not charging?

Ok aparently if your dash board Battery charging (red) light does not light up as the bulb may have blown up, then it is going to stop your alternator from charging at all, or in some cases it may start charging due to a residual magnetic field, the bulb is extremely essential for the alternator to start charging as the current through the bulb biases the Rotor windings to begin charging with, without the bulb the alternator simply won't start charging.

You also later on found that you needed a wire from the battery negative to your alternator negative, that means your alternator wsn't properly earthed, normally your battery's negative post is earthed to car chassis, and then the engine of the car is also earthed to the chassis, the alternator itself is mounted on the engine so it gets its negative earth from the engine itself, although strictly speaking some alternators do not require a short strap of braided wire attached from the alternator bracket bolt to a point on the engine as some alternators gets earthed directly through the bracket bar, but some alternators may use rubber bushes to soften viberations so are insulated from getting tyhe earth directly so you would need a seperate strap to earth an alternator.

However, I have got a feeling that you may still experience charging problem so it is worth checking that your battery light bulb is ok, therefore to test the bulb, make sure when you switch on your ignition the bulb lights up and then goes out as the engine strats and the alternator starts charging up.

[Calibra_Mike]

Battery light didnt come on when I first had the problem, but the engine management light did, when i did the paperclip test it came back with a fault code that was for low voltage... I fitted a volt gauge so i could see what the battery/alternator was doing, it would stay at 12v and creep down as I drove till it went off the gauge at 10v thats when the engine light would come on...

I had the dash apart the other day as I was changing the bulbs to red and I did replace the battery light bulb as it did look blown, however I swear it used to light up when i turned the ignition on and would go out after a couple of seconds as it should do, however it made no difference to the problem...

I used a multimeter to test the cables running to and from the alternator as I had already had the alternater inspected by a specialist, there was no continuity between the ends of the negative cables, as I followed it from one end to the other, I noticed in parts it was really hard and then it would go all flexible, I stripped the sleaving to find the wire had just corroaded away, so fitted new cables, connected it all up and fired up the engine, where I was now getting a reading of 14v on the volt gauge...

I have a Delco Remy Compact Series Alternator and as far as I know they dont have a earth strap to the engine, they run off positive and negative cables...

Thansk for the info though...