prove_it
Well-known member
So I had to head out of town a couple of days ago. I made the whole 1200 mile trip ok and never had any breakdowns. Now here's the problem. It seems that as I got 300 miles into my trip my car would die and restart in a split second, like turning the key off and on real quick. This would happen when touching the brakes, whether or not the headlights were on. I started to think that maybe the battery was headed out. Well I made it to the hotel and waited til the next day and get the starting/charging system checked out. Well the next day I had no issues at all and didn't worry about it. Fast forward to today, problem is consistent now. I had the systems checked and was told the battery was good, and the alternator has low output at about 30A. Well being 400 miles from home, and having installed a new alternator about 6 weeks ago, I just starting driving home and took the chance. She got us home safe.
Here's the facts,
My battery gauge at idle reads about 11.5-12.0 volts, and 12.5-13.0 volts off idle no loads. Also voltage at bat terminals reads the same.
With all lights off at idle or off idle then stepping on brakes the clock will dim briefly then go full brightness.
The alternator at the time was only showing about 30 amp output, loads and no loads.
I drove 1200 miles like this. I have a brand new AC Delco Alternator I installed 6 weeks ago. I also cleaned up and re-taped the wiring harness and washed everything off. I replaced the alternator since the factory one completely failed. I have yet to check the voltage at the alternator output terminal to determine that it's not the chargeback wire.
Question is, Is there anything else besides the chargeback wire that could cause a weak alternator output besides the alternator itself?
And how could I have made it so far if I only had about 30amps of charging power? I even had the headlights on for a while too.
Here's the facts,
My battery gauge at idle reads about 11.5-12.0 volts, and 12.5-13.0 volts off idle no loads. Also voltage at bat terminals reads the same.
With all lights off at idle or off idle then stepping on brakes the clock will dim briefly then go full brightness.
The alternator at the time was only showing about 30 amp output, loads and no loads.
I drove 1200 miles like this. I have a brand new AC Delco Alternator I installed 6 weeks ago. I also cleaned up and re-taped the wiring harness and washed everything off. I replaced the alternator since the factory one completely failed. I have yet to check the voltage at the alternator output terminal to determine that it's not the chargeback wire.
Question is, Is there anything else besides the chargeback wire that could cause a weak alternator output besides the alternator itself?
And how could I have made it so far if I only had about 30amps of charging power? I even had the headlights on for a while too.