

| Subject: | Re: Alternator Troubleshooting |
| From: | Roger Whittaker |
| Date: | Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:06:16 -0700 |
Dear light up your life Been my experiance with a variety of vehicles that those symptoms lead to a new alternator if the wires are all I'n place Good luck Regards On Sunday, October 30, 2011, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote: > I quickly realized > >> that the pulley�s were different between the alternator in the van and the >> rebuilt one in the box, so no-go for a quick and easy swap since I don�t >> have an air compressor strong enough to power an air-wrench to �bump� the >> retaining nut on the pulleys. Tried holding it with a vice and such, but >> really it�s on there tight. >> > > You can hold the alternator body in a vice, gently and padded with > cardboard, and hold the pulley with an oil filter strap wrench while you > put a socket on the nut. > > Jim > >> >> So, some quick testing with a voltmeter: >> >> Test 1: with the engine running, I put my positive lead on terminal B and >> the negative lead on terminal D. The voltage was 7.1V. Battery light still >> on dash. >> >> >> >> Thinking this is a bad voltage regulator or brushes, I pulled the voltage >> regulator out. A little grimey at the metal contacts, but the brushes >> looked fine. Cleaned the grime off and re-installed the regulator. Restart >> the engine and check voltage across terminals B and D and I get 7.1V. >> Battery light still on dash. >> >> >> >> Just for kicks, I pulled the regulator out again compared it against the >> one in the new alternator from FLAPs and they look identical physically. >> >> >> >> Test 2: Installed the new voltage regulator into my old alternator. Started >> the engine and tested across terminals B and D and I get 6.9V. A few other >> measurements at this point (wish I had taken them in previous tests): >> >> Terminal B to alternator housing: 11.75v, dropping to 11.5v after about 30 >> seconds >> >> Terminal D to alternator housing: 4.57v >> >> >> >> So, given that information and testing, I�m thinking either I have a bad >> alternator (diode, perhaps) or I�m chasing down the wrong path altogether. >> >> >> >> One other caveat to mention: on my original alternator, the suppression >> condenser was not mounted the same as the new alternator from FLAPs (which >> was connected to terminal W and the alternator housing). Mine has had the >> connector cut off and mounted to Terminal D, and the condenser itself had >> the hole enlarged and mounted to terminal B. Don�t know that this would >> cause an issue, but thought I�d mention it. It�s been this way since I >> acquired the van earlier this year. >> >> >> >> Any thoughts or advice on other things to check? Or, next steps to take? Do >> I replace the alternator at this point (find a way to swap the pulleys or >> get a replacement one with the correct pulley)? >> >> >> >> Thanks in advance! >> >> Gregg >> >> >> >> 91 Westy (Blueberry) >> > -- roger w From Proverbs: Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king ... ---------------------------------------------------------- Explore printed work at: http://www.prliving.ca/ View the growing list of video work at: http://www.youtube.com/user/LastonLastof#g/u http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2010/11/29/multimedia/video/doc4c62e5f80d228504902172.txt
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