HELP! Alternator or something else???

[poohlikeshunny]

I need to find out if it is a bad alternator, bad connections on the back of the alternator, or another problem altogether.

You know the two wires (red and blue) that are on the back of the alternator (318ic)? What do they do?

If the blue wire was not secured and kinda floppy, would that attribute to the alternator not charging the battery properly? I did my oil filter housing gasket a little over a week ago and when I took out the alt, I must not have secured the blue wire down enough because going back to look at it it was very loose. Since my brand new battery (less than 5 days old) is now dead as a result, I am wondering if that is my FUBAR or if I really need a new alternator. I just got my recharged batt back from the shop and installed it and seems to work fine, but I wonder if that could have been the prob?

Also, I notice on my positive cable, the PO has some sort of thick wire with a fuse tapped into it from the 1600 watt amp in the trunk (that is also hooked up to the 2 pioneer 10"s), it is easily removed and I am wondering if that is the primary draw for power if any while the car is off. I know nothing about audio setups (matter of fact would love to give this whole system away to the first person who can put it back to the way it was OEM), so I am not sure if this extra thick wire is doing more harm than good.

Thanks!

[b.u.ti-ful]

Here is how to test your alternator:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2283281_test...tor-power.html

You will have to buy a multimeter.

It is a tool you will like having in the future, so you might as well get one.

They don't cost much.

[poohlikeshunny]

awesome referral! Thanks! I'll have to run out and grab one tonight to see....

but would an extra cable coming off the battery to a 1600 watt sub be a bad thing? Is it trying to draw too much power?

[b.u.ti-ful]

Could be - I don't know much about how to install sound systems.

Obviously, anything hooked directly to the battery will draw if it is not turned off.

If your alternator checks out okay, you could just take the extra lead off the battery and see how that goes for awhile.

[poohlikeshunny]

Yeah, I already disconnected it and will see what happens.

I also took it to an advanced auto where they checked my power as well. However I am not confident the guy knew what he was doing. Is it possible to check the alternator voltage from just the battery alone (with their diagnostic equipment of course)? That's something I have never heard of. I may be wrong...but he pulled a reading that said my battery was good but may need recharging (just picked it up from being charged today). He got a 12.87 and 7.0 under load whatever that means.

Is that a good sign?

[b.u.ti-ful]

Here is how it should go if you do it from the battery:

[poohlikeshunny]

OK, REAL dumb question...but I need help...looks like my belt is frayed which may be why it wasn't charging my battery. Now that it is frayed, seems like there is more friction and it was able to turn the pulley better as now my battery has more charge than this morning (although not full). I know the belt will probably break soon, but looks like a bad belt may have been my culprit...so here to my dumb question, how do you remove the belt?

I got lucky doing it before following an oil filter housing gasket DIY, but I got lucky. It was a pain in the ass to get on...my dad helped me out and looks like he pulled a pulley to the left a bit (weird angle...worried me...) to get it offf and back on again. Could this have done damage?

Thanks to whoever can help me with this totally noob question... You guys are very helpful! especially compareed to some other forums...

[tiFreak]

Originally Posted by poohlikeshunny

I got lucky doing it before following an oil filter housing gasket DIY, but I got lucky. It was a pain in the ass to get on...my dad helped me out and looks like he pulled a pulley to the left a bit (weird angle...worried me...) to get it offf and back on again. Could this have done damage?

that's the belt tensioner, it's designed to do that so you can get the belt on and off

[poohlikeshunny]

OK cool, so it is made to bend to the side like that? I won't break anything by tugging too hard?

Would a bad belt here be the source of an odd whine? At first I thought it was metal on metal, but after looking at the belt it may be that....althogh since my battery is dead due to the bad alternator, I can't even start it to see what the problem is...

[tiFreak]

Originally Posted by poohlikeshunny

OK cool, so it is made to bend to the side like that? I won't break anything by tugging too hard?

Would a bad belt here be the source of an odd whine? At first I thought it was metal on metal, but after looking at the belt it may be that....althogh since my battery is dead due to the bad alternator, I can't even start it to see what the problem is...

you won't break anything pulling on it unless your name happens to be Clark Kent, just get a socket that fits and a breaker bar, and yes, a belt will cause a whining/squeeling noise

[poohlikeshunny]

Thanks so much for the quick reply! I'm off to look for an alternator belt now...are they called anything else? I have heard of serpentine belt, AC belt (connects with alt?), etc. Should I just ask for an alternator pulley belt from NAPA or something?

btw: I dig your setup! Are those wheels powder coated grey?

[tiFreak]

as long as there's only one, it shouldn't matter to much what you call it, the people at the store should know what you're talking about

[poohlikeshunny]

awesome....thanks a bunch!!! here's to my next project!!!

[tiFreak]

no problem, I need to know all that stuff working as a mechanic good luck

[poohlikeshunny]

Does anyone know what wire this is here and if it should be hooked up somewhere? Looks like the end is frayed and may have broken or been like that this whole time...should I be worried? It starts off with the one I was holding, which lead to a point where 2 other wires were wrapped with a larger black plastic tubing, becoming one wire. It then continues back behind the fusebox.

Once it stops raining here in SE PA, I'm going to replace my alternator and belt and hopefully I will have room to see where the wire should if gone (if it was indeed connected to something below)..