Nevermind, I'm an idiot. I forgot about the steering calibration method. Everything is good now. Thanks guys!

 

Guess who is back? So on my way to the Texas8 run I almost had to dip out because my voltage dropped to 11.4 and my battery light came on so I slowed down and when i down shifted the voltage came back up and the battery light went off. So for the whole day she was fine no lights, etc.

So then on Sunday I took the kiddos home and the light came on and then would go off if I put it in Nuetral and revved it. This happened a few times throughout teh drive. When I got home I checked the alternator belt and everything seems great. I'm thinking my rebuilt (twice) alternator is going out again. I replaced the battery a month or so ago.

Any idea where the best place to get a new alternator is because the dealer wants a grip for it.

 

ask jedi, i think he got a better one for his car and got a good deal on it too

 

9K, thanks for your post. there's a lot of good info here. My car started the same symptom 2 days ago. I replaced the battery thinking it was that but the problem still persist. while looking for answers in this forum Im glad i stumbled on your thread. Car is still under warranty so I'll just have it towed to the dealership tomorrow before i create more damage :D

 

Hope you got my PM but yeah my alternator caused many problem and even though it was rebuilt it was never the same until I bought a whole different OEM one. For some reason the rebuilds only last so long on a typical rebuild.

 

Guess who is back again. I really need to sort this out. I was driving in heavy traffic today and noticed my volts were down to 12.9 -13.2 (Scangauge II saved me again). They usually stay around 13.9-14.3. This battery is only a few months old and it is even a bigger battery (700 CCA @32F, 100 reserve time, etc.)

I made it home okay and threw her on the trickle charger and after a couple of hours it maxed out at 12.9V. So that means the battery has been damaged (fourth one) and I bet when I test this alternator i will find it is failing too. usually a battery will be around 14.9 V when I fully charge it. so I know the voltage will continue to drop and the battery will fail because that is what happened last year. This was an OEM alternator with 6,000 miles on it.

I have no aftermarket power modifications, etc. Only wiring done is my OP gauge and Oil temp gauge but these problems existed before both and I have not had issues with either.

Any idea what could be causing the alternator to fail and ruin the battery? can someone look at the charging system diagram and maybe spot something?

 

Battery should only be about 12.5 volts unless the CAR IS RUNNING. A battery by itself should never be in the 14v range, again unless the car is running.

 

Well I actually charged a brand new Optima Red Top the other day and it was at 14.8V at "Full Charge" according to my charger. But I will test it again tomorrow with a voltmeter to make sure my charger is reading right.

As a matter of fact, there is another 8 in the garage, I will test it right now.

 

I'm having the same exact problem as you. I guess I should be looking at a new alternator? My battery is overcharging at 17.4V. ****

 

Yes, don't drive it. I ended up ruining the ABS module and some other stuff due to them not diagnosing it correctly. If it had not been for the extended warranty it would have cost an arm and a leg. You can get yours rebuilt but it won't last too long.

www.mazmart.com
www.partsgroup.com
www.revvinsevens.com

 

^Ok well I didn't drive it after 1km to my friends house. It was still cranking so I'm hoping I haven't ruined anything important. I got a re-man alternator for $160. Will put it in tomorrow but I'm wondering that if the voltage regulator is integral to the alternator if I can rebuild my old one for a spare? It seems to me that is the root cause of this because it didn't just stop charging. Did you switch back to an OEM alternator after the reman failed?

 

Okey dokey I put the new alternator in and everything is good again. Thanks 9K for being the guinea pig. Saved my ***.

 

Glad you got it fixed.

 

I have this problem now too...

--Owners manual

 

If you verify your battery is good replace your alternator right away. When my alternator overcharged it damaged many things and was expensive to fix. You can get the alternator rebuilt for $100.00 and it will last a bit but always goes out again, there is something in the rebuild process that doesn't get fully fixed. After a couple of rebuilds I finally bought a used low mileage alternator and i have never had a problem since.

 

Gotta be ... warning lights extinguish at low RPM < 2000.

Would think voltage not being regulated above that speed.

 

New Alternator and battery installed

 

Nice. It sucks, when mine overcharged it ruined two new batteries before I figured out what was going on (dealer techs were idiots).

 

How did it turn out? Everything good again?

 

So far... so good. I went with a brand new alternator installed by repair shop $$$ so I can hopefully avoid some of the misery I read about in this and a few other threads.

When all lights came on I was paranoid because I have not replaced an engine yet. This one has about 60K on it.

 

Good to hear, you could have just bought it and brought it by the house, we could have installed in 30 minutes.

 

I am saving your help for the motor ...

Actually ... this thread was a lot of help. With all those warnings on at the same time I was confused.

When I get multiple warnings lights at work ... we check for engine failure, then generator, then electrical bus failure in that order.

 

Would you recommend me to change my alternator before changing anything else?

I just te same exact problem happen to me today 11/28/16

 

I eventually had to replace my rebuilt alternator, something in the rebuild process was not getting addressed so I just bought a new OEM alternator and everything has been fine for the past few years.

 

Ok thanks. I just really need a ride to work and I don't want to drive my 8 around and possibly mess something else up. Like the fuse box or the ECU...