Is there a way to predict alt failure?
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 950
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From: This spot right here --->*
Car: 2002 SOM z28
Engine: LS1
Transmission: T-56
Is there a way to predict alt failure?
I just had my alternator finally die on me when I went to pick up Chinese take out the other night. I can accept that because it was over 4yrs ago since I rebuilt it.
What I don't like is that I was stuck in the parking lot until I could get another alternator the next morning (actually, I got a jumpstart the next morning and was able to make it home... barely). While I cannot be 100% sure how long the alt was shot for, I do know that it totally drained my 3 month old battery. So after I go to the parts store to get an alternator... I had to do a return trip to have my battery checked and recharged.
Is there a way to know when the alternator is going to die in the near future? I don't have an amp meter in the car anymore (not that it ever worked when I got it either). Do they make a whinning noise or anything?
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1984 z28 w/ a 357 cu in. monster engine which is looking like the posterchild for Edelbrock with the exception of the Holley 750vac... all the suspension stuff... 9-bolt posi disk is in...
-=ICON Motorsports=-
What I don't like is that I was stuck in the parking lot until I could get another alternator the next morning (actually, I got a jumpstart the next morning and was able to make it home... barely). While I cannot be 100% sure how long the alt was shot for, I do know that it totally drained my 3 month old battery. So after I go to the parts store to get an alternator... I had to do a return trip to have my battery checked and recharged.
Is there a way to know when the alternator is going to die in the near future? I don't have an amp meter in the car anymore (not that it ever worked when I got it either). Do they make a whinning noise or anything?
------------------
1984 z28 w/ a 357 cu in. monster engine which is looking like the posterchild for Edelbrock with the exception of the Holley 750vac... all the suspension stuff... 9-bolt posi disk is in...
-=ICON Motorsports=-
Supreme Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 3,197
Likes: 10
From: Manassas VA
Car: 04 GTO
Engine: LS1
Transmission: M12 T56
Dude, if your battery was dead then your alt was shot for a while (unless you were running every electrical device in your car as you drove.) I drove for over a half hour with my alt. dead, not including shutting down and restarting at pep boys where i picked up the fresh one.
What i'm getting at is this...if you would have looked at the voltmeter anytime along the trip and saw it was reading low you would have been clued into the situation. Your battery can run your ignition for hours, HEI is pretty efficient, with barely any draw during normal driving circumstances, peaking at ~10A at WOT redline.
BTW, you know your alternator is dead when you aren't getting 13.8V with minimal electrical load while running. When you see that, your next stop is the parts store, then home to change it, leaving everything off (barring lights if it's night time.)
...ed
What i'm getting at is this...if you would have looked at the voltmeter anytime along the trip and saw it was reading low you would have been clued into the situation. Your battery can run your ignition for hours, HEI is pretty efficient, with barely any draw during normal driving circumstances, peaking at ~10A at WOT redline.
BTW, you know your alternator is dead when you aren't getting 13.8V with minimal electrical load while running. When you see that, your next stop is the parts store, then home to change it, leaving everything off (barring lights if it's night time.)
...ed
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