2007 Mazda RX-8
6 months ago, I had to replace the two wire pigtail going to the alternator. (Heat and time made it brittle). Got a hitch put on 2 weeks ago (class one to pull a kayak), they had to drop the exhaust, but the next day the voltage light came on. First thought was okay, hitch install is probably unrelated. I pumped the breaks 20 times, cleaned the map and plug behind the filter, checked the cat after a hard drive. All ok. Am getting a slight misfiring, but I havent ran it hard for 10 days due to an injury and not working. My coils, and wires are in order, and are at about 35K. Lzr Iri plugs look excellent. Apex seals are surprisingly good at 150k original miles, mild hot start issues for its age. and mazdas compression check is nominal. So, could the arcing of those 2 wires kill the voltage regulator after about a week? Cause I just found the issue tonight. If so, no more rebuilds. I'll get a high output alt since I run about 4000 watts. As always, thanks for any thoughts and help!!
brian




Notice the 2 slices in the heat shrinks...

 

I'd be surprised if 12 volt can really arc through that unless the cuts were smoshed together for some reason, or both rubbed on the same metal part...?

Either way, I would just make sure the battery is still alive and terminals are clean/snug before you start spending on alternator replacements. Sometimes it's the simple stuff

 

Thanks Loki! I did clean all terminals oh, and it actually was stuck together so it is possible maybe that it did Arc but for some reason I'm getting only about 11V so the next step is to take the alternator out to probably have it tested, it's only about six months old, but it's a rebuild you know. They only last so long. Thanks a lot man.!