Car Eats alternators!!! HELP

**ttk53** · 09-03-2009, 10:33 AM

My Car is killing alternators, not like your normal terminator, I’m talking 6 in a month, they last like 5-50 miles and then they are smoked.

Electrical is not my thing at all, anyone that can help or can direct me to someone that can help would be greatly appreciated

**Sonic03snake** · 09-03-2009, 10:36 AM

You have a lower pulley on the car?

**Rodeheaver's** · 09-03-2009, 10:37 AM

have the battery checked, it could be shorting out, or you could have a short somewhere else...

**somethingclever** · 09-03-2009, 10:43 AM

Stock lower

Battery was tested good (cranking test for sure but I think they also did the load test)

When idling it's seeing 14 volts or so at the battery.

It has a BIG drain somewhere but no smoked wiring he could find.

Wish I was around to help.

**ttk53** · 09-03-2009, 10:50 AM

As soon as I put the alternators in they whine. 3 of these where AutoZonce crap, 1 was an OEM, and the last 2 where start N charge. So it isnt the alternator its my car.

This has had my car down for basicly the whole summer!

**Sonic03snake** · 09-03-2009, 10:57 AM

Id start looking at anything that has been moded, look for pinched wires, ETC. Maybe a bad ground could do this?

**ttk53** · 09-03-2009, 10:59 AM

Been looking for this, only thing electricly aftermarket is the BAP and HID's

**RUTHLESS** · 09-03-2009, 11:10 PM

The ground for these cars is in the wheel well behind the front drivers side wheel. Make sure it has a nice clean connect and is not loose. Also check where it bolts to the engine. I think its on the engine mount bolt.

Did the guy looking for the issue happen to say how big the load was? Is it enough to keep the alt in charge mod the entire time? If it is, is the battery getting over charged?

I had a car with one heck of a daw one time and it turned out that my radio head unit went back and caused the amps to stay on.

**RUTHLESS** · 09-03-2009, 11:12 PM

Make sure the BAP wiring is not shorting out on anything. I would pull its fuse and see if the battery is still seeing the same draw.

**ddmi-twin90gt** · 09-04-2009, 12:16 AM

The first thing to do is a test for a major short. Remove the positive and negative cables from the batteries. Put an Ohm-meter across the positive and negative cable. If your reading is close to 0 Ohms then you have a direct short. You need to trace the short before you can perform the following tests.
In order to check for parasitic draw, you need to be careful so you don't ruin your meter. At the risk of sounding like an elementary teacher, here's what you need to do.

If you don't already have one, get a digital meter capable of reading up to 10 amps DC. Sears sells them for less than $50 -
Your battery must have a reasonable charge for this test - it won't work if your battery is dead.
Check to make sure ALL loads are turned off. Unplug anything you may have plugged into the cigarette lighter. Remove your keys from the ignition. Close all doors so the dome lights are off.
Disconnect the thick positive (Red) cable that goes down to the starter.
To start make sure your meter is set to the 10 amp DC range. Some meters have a special connector for the red probe when you are reading current. The meter pictured on the left has one jack for high amps and one for low amps. If yours does, make sure the meter end of the probe is in the right connector. You can either do this next step by just holding the meter probes to their respective contact points (you won't get a shock from 12 volts) or you can use probes with alligator clips to snap them in place so your hands are free to do something else.
Connect the positive probe to the battery - either battery is fine, electrically speaking, since they are connected together by the negative (Black) wires. Polarity on digital meters doesn't matter because they are autosensing.
Connect the negative probe to the red cable that is still connected to the vehicle. Make sure this cable and your probe do not touch ground.
If there is a severe current draw (more than 10 amps) it will either pop a fuse in your meter or destroy it outright. That's why you need to test for a short, otherwise, your meter should now be reading the current drain on your battery.
If your vehicle has an alarm system or remote locks, the current draw may be around 2-3 amps for a few minutes after you last close the door. This is normal. If you're not sure, wait at least 20 minutes after you last open or close a door before you take a reading.
If everything is normal, you will read less than 35 milliamps, or .035 amps. If the current drain is higher than that, you need to find out what is draining your batteries: You can start by pulling fuses until the load goes away. If that doesn't reduce the draw, you need to look for a wire that is corroded or frayed.

**ttk53** · 09-04-2009, 10:00 AM

Going to rewire the BAP tonight and My battery seems to hold a charge fine in the car. It can sit for a few days to a week and fire right up!

Car is probably donw for the year I think Im going to take insurance off it and start winter mods.

Car is killing alts at High RPM pulls, almost like its getting over spun but I have a stock lower?????

My radio did seem to be changing volume a few times that night, Maybe my radio is messed up and the amps are pulling a lot of power?
Damn thing wont play cd's well it does but it will FF 3 sec ever 3 sec. Have to take it out and see what happens.

**ddmi-twin90gt** · 09-04-2009, 01:20 PM

just told you how to check it..

**ttk53** · 09-04-2009, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by ddmi-twin90gt

just told you how to check it..

what you said to do sound like how to check what is drawing power when the car if off and killing the battery.

Will see what I find this weekend.

**Zakerid** · 09-08-2009, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by ddmi-twin90gt

The first thing to do is a test for a major short. Remove the positive and negative cables from the batteries. Put an Ohm-meter across the positive and negative cable. If your reading is close to 0 Ohms then you have a direct short. You need to trace the short before you can perform the following tests.
In order to check for parasitic draw, you need to be careful so you don't ruin your meter. At the risk of sounding like an elementary teacher, here's what you need to do.

If you don't already have one, get a digital meter capable of reading up to 10 amps DC. Sears sells them for less than $50 -
Your battery must have a reasonable charge for this test - it won't work if your battery is dead.
Check to make sure ALL loads are turned off. Unplug anything you may have plugged into the cigarette lighter. Remove your keys from the ignition. Close all doors so the dome lights are off.
Disconnect the thick positive (Red) cable that goes down to the starter.
To start make sure your meter is set to the 10 amp DC range. Some meters have a special connector for the red probe when you are reading current. The meter pictured on the left has one jack for high amps and one for low amps. If yours does, make sure the meter end of the probe is in the right connector. You can either do this next step by just holding the meter probes to their respective contact points (you won't get a shock from 12 volts) or you can use probes with alligator clips to snap them in place so your hands are free to do something else.
Connect the positive probe to the battery - either battery is fine, electrically speaking, since they are connected together by the negative (Black) wires. Polarity on digital meters doesn't matter because they are autosensing.
Connect the negative probe to the red cable that is still connected to the vehicle. Make sure this cable and your probe do not touch ground.
If there is a severe current draw (more than 10 amps) it will either pop a fuse in your meter or destroy it outright. That's why you need to test for a short, otherwise, your meter should now be reading the current drain on your battery.
If your vehicle has an alarm system or remote locks, the current draw may be around 2-3 amps for a few minutes after you last close the door. This is normal. If you're not sure, wait at least 20 minutes after you last open or close a door before you take a reading.
If everything is normal, you will read less than 35 milliamps, or .035 amps. If the current drain is higher than that, you need to find out what is draining your batteries: You can start by pulling fuses until the load goes away. If that doesn't reduce the draw, you need to look for a wire that is corroded or frayed.

I like this procedure but usually use a test light (easier to see when working alone.
When testing for shorts my quick and easy way is to do the following.
-Pull the + cable
-Connect testlight between cable and battery (if the light is lit = you have a short)
- disconnect 1 circuit (start with fuses) at a time, if the light goes out you have found the circuit in question. If light stays lit, reconnect circuit (fuse, relay, ect) and continue disconnecting circuits.

Last time I had to do this, I went through the entire fuse box without success. The culprit was a fan relay in the engine bay.

Good luck.

**ddmi-twin90gt** · 09-08-2009, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by Zakerid

I like this procedure but usually use a test light (easier to see when working alone.
When testing for shorts my quick and easy way is to.
-Pull the + cable
-Connect testlight between cable and battery (if the light is lit = you have a short)
- disconnect 1 circuit (start with fuses) at a time, if the light goes out you have found the circuit in question. If light stays lit, reconnect circuit (fuse, relay, ect) and continue disconnecting circuits.

Last time I had to do this, I went through though entire fuse box without success. The culprit was a fan relay in the engine bay.

Good luck.

AH! yes, Daniel son, I forgot about that one!

**ttk53** · 09-08-2009, 09:48 AM

This sounds like a plan, and what if the light never comes one?

Originally Posted by Zakerid

I like this procedure but usually use a test light (easier to see when working alone.
When testing for shorts my quick and easy way is to.
-Pull the + cable
-Connect testlight between cable and battery (if the light is lit = you have a short)
- disconnect 1 circuit (start with fuses) at a time, if the light goes out you have found the circuit in question. If light stays lit, reconnect circuit (fuse, relay, ect) and continue disconnecting circuits.

Last time I had to do this, I went through though entire fuse box without success. The culprit was a fan relay in the engine bay.

Good luck.

**RUTHLESS** · 09-08-2009, 08:11 PM

Man I was reading your post on SVTP. I hope you get this figured out because it sounds like you have had about 5 alts in the car.

**Zakerid** · 09-08-2009, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by ttk53

This sounds like a plan, and what if the light never comes one?

well... I would lean towards there being an issue with the ground.

**32valve** · 09-09-2009, 11:16 PM

Did you make sure It has the proper alt pulley on the alt?You state it it has the factory lower. Do you have a large sub wolfer stereo syst?? A fellow at work has killed two alts since he installed his big boomer stereo. Says he needs to install a capasitor system for the sub (drawing too much current) says the lights dim when it's on.

**RUTHLESS** · 09-10-2009, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by 32valve

Did you make sure It has the proper alt pulley on the alt?You state it it has the factory lower. Do you have a large sub wolfer stereo syst?? A fellow at work has killed two alts since he installed his big boomer stereo. Says he needs to install a capasitor system for the sub (drawing too much current) says the lights dim when it's on.

Not to get off topic but tell you buddy to install a high output alt and a second battery in the trunk with a charge relay setup. The CAP is just going to brandaid the lights dimming because it buffers the spikes but the system will keep cooking factory alts because the caps adds a load to the total draw of the system. I was running 3 deep cycles with a 230amp alt connected with 0gauge wire. My lights didnt blink but I could cook food on the alt when I was screwing around at shows. Dont even ask how much power I was pushing because it was down right stupid.

Just trying to save that guy some cash and trouble in the long run.