Electrical problems

[971of1000]

I have had problems with the car starting after sitting for any extended period of time. I have recently put in a saturn alternator, a new battery, extra grounds from the engine to the frame, along with putting the battery in the trunk and grounding it to the frame via 2 gauge wire. I was reading 13.1 volts with the car running and 12.4 running with the lights on. Any tips or help would be very appreciated.

 

[Hertz]

Something is draining it down. Slight short to ground somewhere?

 

[prove_it]

Either that or the alternator is bad. Sounds like it's not hitting full field when you turn the loads on.

 

[971of1000]

Are you referring to the ground on the battery or another ground. Would running a ground from the alternator to the frame help at all?

 

[656of1000]

Quote:
Would running a ground from the alternator to the frame help at all?



Since the alternator is already grounded through the case and to the engine block, adding a ground wouldn't help any.
Where are you measuring the 13.1 volts? At the battery, or a gauge in the car? I know that if a gauge is hooked up to thin gauge dash wires, the reading can be off. Checking from the battery is the best place to check voltage.
What gauge wire is your positive cable to the battery? Could it be to thin?

 

[971of1000]

I checked it on the battery itself. I am running a 2gauge wire from the back of the car to the front. I am going to pull fuses tonight from everything and start checking.

 

[971of1000]

still have no clue what is going on. the fuses are all in good shape.

 

13.1 is pretty weak even at idle, is the Saturn alt wired up correctly? Isn't it supposed to be a one-wire self exciting alternator? It should be showing at least 13.5 at idle, and if you rev it to about 2k it should be around 14.6. Which Saturn alt is it? What was its original application? I'm not real familiar with a saturn alt swap, perhaps I missed that bit of tech somewhere, but what is the benefit of that over the Mitsu alt?

 

[971of1000]

ran a test last night and the culprit was the ignition switch fuse. any idea what would be drawing power behind the ignition switch besides the ecu, power transistor, coil pack, tps, iac? i am getting on alldata at work now but any help would be appreciated.

 

[971of1000]

alternator is drawing power. thanks for you guys help

 

[971of1000]

pulled the alternator and had it tested at the local alternator shop and it is fine. i am really stumped now. anyone have any ideas on problems they have had?

 

[971of1000]

where do the wires from the alternator clip come from? i am running a saturn alternator and am wondering if the wire clip comes straight from the ecu. if it does, i would think i may have a short in the wiring or the ecu itself.