New Alternator acts weird, and barely charges battery.

[MalibuHacon]

I don¨t think anyone went through that trouble, it came original with that gauge package i think. As i said the Volt-gauge works pretty good, it show about 1-2V wrong but it works.. Okay so it seems that we're getting somewhere. How would i know if this brown/white wire acts as it should? Also do you know if i am supposed to be able to take the ignition key out of the ignition while the engine is running, and key is at run?

 

[pontiacgp]

On your gauge there is a red light that should turn on when you start your car and goes out when the alternator gets excited and starts charging. You can use a 12 volt switched wire to connect to the brown wire at the alternator to see if that cures the problem.

 

[MalibuHacon]

Pontiac
I have never seen a red light..
What is a "12 volt switched wire"? it's probably something i should know... but keep in mind this is my first car.
Thank you

 

[pontiacgp]

switched wire is a wire that is 12 volts when you turn the ignition key to on

 

[MalibuHacon]

So i should just stuff some random wire from the battery into the plug at the brown wire? Actually sounds like descent idea 🙂 ... Where should i tap that 12V from?
And given my recent luck with the car, if this does not work what could then be wrong? should i then take out the old regulator and put it into the new alternator?

 

[Ribbedroof]

I would not start randomly swapping new parts for old

You need a logical path to go down.

If it were me, I would :

1 Ensure all grounds were to clean metal

2 Have alternator function/load tested

3 Check brown/ brown-wht wire for continuity from ign switch to alternator. Would be good idea to have someone move harness around while testing to check for broken conductors

4 Connect 12V lead to brown wire at alternator to excite and begin charging

I would guess you will find the problem before you get to 4

 

[MalibuHacon]

How do i perform #2? "Have alternator function/load tested"

When i got the alternator to charge well, second day after replacing it, and pretty much only time it worked good, i had probably 14,4 while at idle, and with most accessories on it would charge at 12,9V... but as i mentioned it barely ever works well. Mostly it seemingly doesn't charge at all.

Thank you Ribbedroof!

 

[Ribbedroof]

Do you have an auto parts store that can test it?

Friend with a similar GM car?

First one is preferred method

Otherwise, you will have to do as pontiacgp suggested and run a 12V wire to the brown wire at the alt and check output at the bat terminal on back of alt. (step 4)

My feeling is that it is unlikely the reman alternator is defective. It happens on occasion, but is not common. Given that you were having charging issues before replacing it make me believe the problem is on the wiring rather than a bad part.

Really, the only reason for testing the alt is to eliminate it as the source of the problem, especially given that there has been some potentially damaging connecting/disconnecting while in operation. If we KNOW it is good, we can eliminate it, same for grounds and testing brown wire

 

[CWPottenger]

I have had bad alternators that die right after installing on more then one occasion. Worst case I had 4 in a row fail. I had to get a different brand to get a good one. Have it tested. anything under 13 is not going to keep battery charged

 

[MalibuHacon]

I do my mechanical work on the car at garage-club, i might be able to get it checked there, however I have had some mechanics look at it at that auto-club and they all think its the regulator, or something with that annoying "brown wire" to do. We have ran tests on it, not sure if we did what you described.. "load tested". All we really got was all sorts of random reads that would suggest that something is not right at all, for instance that it would charge worse when revving the engine etc. I haven't tested the battery with a fancy battery tester for awhile, since i have already done that once since i got it a few months ago, but I guess i could do that again. Would a battery get worn out/destroyed from being completely discharged once a week for 3 months?