Alternator dead??? Or what!!

[nazstang]

hey guys, my cobra started acting funny a few days ago, the volt meter has been low all the time, and my other gauges were a bit off, and now today the car won't start. the fuel pump goes on, and all the power stuff is working, but when i turn it over, there is a loud click and nothing happens. my girl told me it came from the alternator. i have a brand new optima, the car has 100k, and the alt is the factory unit. could it be that? or maybe a bad ground? starter?... any help is appriciated.

oh yeah, anyone know when all the grounds are, and any good alternators out there? thanks

 

[HISSIN50]

You can either have the parts store test the charging system (requires car to be driveable), remove the alt and have it bench tested or check it out a bit yourself.

WIth a fully charged battery: car off, you should have 12.6-13.2 volts.

With the car idling and no load, look for ~14.4 volts. Even if all loaded up (lights, fan, etc) it should be around 13 volts. Do use a real meter and not the stock voltmeter to determine this stuff.

Good brands: PA is VERY well liked. I run an Alterstart 170 amp unit in my fox and it seems to do quite well.

There is a big motor ground behind the water pump, next to the oil pressure sender. I kinda doubt you have a ground issue out of the blue (charging the battery and seeing if it cranks and starts is a quick way to know).

Good luck.

 

[nazstang]

thanks. 2 days ago i did that and it was at 13.88 -13.79v . no load at all. now the car doesn't turn at all. it just makes a loud zap or click sound. i'm gonna take it out and have it bench tested at autozone. ???? this is killing me

 

[94Blue302GT]

I'd say it sounds like the battery is dead, but you say you have a new one. I had a similar problem, but it was with my stock battery. Basically I could start it after it sat for awhile cuz the sediment would settle to the bottom. You didn't get a bunch of dust inside an Optima, did ya?

 

[nazstang]

no, no dust in it, i have it charging right now and it says it's fully charged, gonna go give it another try right now...

 

[nazstang]

alright.... well that was a no go. same story, openned pass door, and sound might be from the starter :\ then i touched the ground wire of the batt. and it was rather warm . i'm gonna check the connection of the ground, see what that does...

 

[CManT1914]

alright.... well that was a no go. same story, openned pass door, and sound might be from the starter :\ then i touched the ground wire of the batt. and it was rather warm . i'm gonna check the connection of the ground, see what that does...

Replace your terminals if you never have yet. Mine did this a long time ago and it was because my factory terminals were too far gone. Then the other day my negative battery cable started SMOKING and was extremely hot to the touch, car wouldn't start. I didn't have the terminal on all the way I pushed it on all the way (burning the heck out of my thumb in the process, lol) and it hasn't done it since. Terminals are cheap anyway.

 

[nazstang]

i'm gonna check into the terminals. i just started to undo the ground straps, and cleaned them good. i'm hoping it's a conection issue

 

[FORCED2DV8]

Did you try push starting it?? if the battery has 12 volts at least it should run. It may be the starter is what it sounds like, there is nothing in the alternator to make a click or noise unless you have a screw driver in it shorting it out. sounds like the starter solenoid is not engaging the starter.

 

[FORCED2DV8]

I also had problems once the bettery registered 12 to 13 volts but it could not put out enough ampres to turn the car over, so i was assuming the battery was good when in fact it was junk, I assume you tried jump starting it.

 

[nazstang]

yeah, i just had that problem, so i just bought the optima battery. the voltage while the car was running a few days ago, was good, but now the car won't even turn over, so that makes me think it's the starter too.

i'm taking it off right now, (getting that upper bolt off ) and am gonna see what's up. if it's the solenoid, can i just buy the solenoid instead of a new starter. i don't want an autozone cheap chinese part that i'll need to keep replacing. eventually a csi or powermaster unit might be bought (just not now, i got no job, need to save $$). any tips or ideas???-

 

[nazstang]

ok, well i took it to autozone and it worked on the tester, but he said the solenoid might be messed up. anyone think that the solenoid is messed up? i'm gonna put it back on and see what happens with all the wires cleaned up and all.... i'm still pissed, what the hell!

 

[CManT1914]

Solenoid is a good possibilty. It went south on my mom's 66 stang, and my pops and me replaced the battery, terminals, cables, rebuilt the starter and all that. It ended up being the solenoid the whole time, lol.

 

[HISSIN50]

If you put a jumper battery (as if jump starting) on the car, does it start?

If not, I would use a jumper cable to augment stock cables (run in parallel). If you do this and the car starts, the cable you are paralleling is bad.

Good luck.

 

[mo_dingo]

Simple test to isolate a bad alternator. The 8 gauge wire that connects to the back of the alternator. Probe that with the DVM pos lead, then put the neg lead to the battery terminal ground. Start the car and if you see 14.4 - 18V your alternator is good.

If not, it's cooked and you need a new one.

With the car off, you should see 12.6V to your battery. Any less means it's either drained or you have a dead cell. A specific gravity test will tell you if it's bad.

BTW, a 6 cell battery has 2.1V for each cell, thus 2.1 x 6 = 12.6V.
Scott

 

[nazstang]

thanks guys. well i got the starter checked, it's all good, but i got a new selonoid for the starter, installed it.....and nothing. not a damn thing. what the hell else could this be ! what are the grounds we have? the bloock near oil filter, 2 next to batt.....?

 

[nazstang]

well thanks everyone. i guess the batt was a bit drained last night, i charged it for like 3 mins. this morning, and next thing i know, vrooom! haha! hopefully the solenoid was the only issue. if anyone knows where all the grounds are, i'd appriciate it, thanks