Sleipnir

first off, i did a search, but didnt find anything helpfull, maybe im stupid...

i went home for about a week and a half, and i left my car in a parking lot. i got home and tried driving to work at like 1030 at night, well, it lost alot of power, lights were dim and everything, so i start shutting off accessories, and it just kinda stalls the inevitable. so i leave it out front of the base untill today when i go back with a brand new shiney alternator, and i slap it in, jump the battery, and start the car, well it started, but in less then a minute the battery was dead, very dead. so i took back the alternator and got a shiney new battery. now it started right up, itll hold power, but not more than like 10, thats with only one fan running no light, no stereo ac nothing, just a fan. if i hit the lights it would bolt down, and it would barely recharge. im posting this so that my bank doesnt nuke my card for buying and returned 5000 of the same thing over two days, does it sound like my alternator might have died? i mean it was over about a 20 minutes drive and it never reached normal voltage. or does it sound like a short or somethin? thanks.

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

You have a serious power drain there. Almost sounds like mine... Anyways, do you have any aftermarket things installed such as a CD stereo or something, or do you still have the stock unit? How many alternators have you gotten and from where? A lot of places tend to sell remanufactured, not working at all, units. Some people on here have reported buying several bad ones in a row until they got a working one.
Anyways, here's what you do. Make sure the batt is charged, and hook it up WITHOUT hooking up the Negative cable, and hook a test light between the cable and the batt terminal. Then go inside and pull fuses until the light goes out, if it comes on. The fuse that turns the light off is the culprit, but it more than likely is going to be the radio. Find a way to unplug the radio and ECM to see if they are a problem, and if they aren't, you have some major work ahead of you to find that short or drain.

carfixxer

So do you have a new battery and a new alternator?
Or did you return the alternator and put your old one back in? and just have a new battery?
So you might need both new.
If your battery was crapping out it kills the alternator, sometimes slowly-sometimes quickly. So now when replacing an alternator make sure the battery is FULLY charged or it will "do bad things" to the alternator. If you have a voltmeter see what the output is at the connecting stud in the back of the alt while the car is running it should be at close to or above 13 volts.

Sleipnir

thanks alot guys,
i did replace the battery, and i returned the alternator, guess i will hafta go blow 70 bucks again. now why would you go thru so many alternators when the store tests them on site for free. couldnt you just have the guy at the store test them untill he gives you a working alternator? i dont have a voltmeter by the way, ill hafta pick one up

carfixxer

Voltmeters are a little pricey so maybe you can borrow one.

Trickster

Check your wiring for corrosion or any shorts.

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!!!

mist1006

if you're gettin your parts from advance welcome to my personal hell.

Fortunately my hubby works there


anyway both my camaro and my other car (the mustang) have both gone through probably 4 alternators from there.

I make them check the alternator before it goes on the car now. we went through three instore before we found one that was good...


and it sounds like your alternator killed your battery.

Firebird_Bob

change your alternator fan belt. It might be slipping (without a noise). Thats what mine did and what happened is the the alt turned but not enough to make the power that i needed.

Sleipnir

well unfortunatly i read these posts after i went and changed the alternator again, and have succeeded in just making myself so angry im not going to go outside to look at the car again today...it might end up without a windshield... thanks for the advice, tomorrow once ive taken some valume to calm myself down, ill go see if any of that works, plan is to clean all the terminals, change the belt, check all wires between alternator and battery or shorts or for foreign devices getting attached to them to cause pop up advertisements while im driving, and then im gonna go back to advanced, which yes thats where the alternators have been from, so ill try to spend a few hours there. and if none of that proceeds itll end up in the lemon lot on base, and im buying a 92 z28.

frustrated over the small things...

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

One more thing, I would try changing both the alt and batt at the same time. I think I am going down the same road, however, but I have a device that will delay the inevitable until I have the cash for both the batt and new alt at the same time. If none of the above works, take back the newest part, be it the alt or the batt, and spend a little extra and get both. It can't hurt, and you can always take it back and say that it didn't work and the car is going to the scrap heap...

Also, have the starter checked... it's a long shot, but the solenoid may have an internal short or something.... That is where most of the batt power goes first is into the starter... And don't forget to keep the same shims when you do this!

mist1006

check the fusable link between the alternator and the battery. been there with that problem.. it sucked...

take the alternator back to advance and have a WHITE shirt check it on the bench. These are managers. They know what they're doing. The red shirts tend not to. Trust me.. My hubby works for advance. Also take the battery in and have it tested too.

Hubby thinks its a fusable link.

Trickster

Try this since you have mentioned that you are having a problem with the power draining and dropping off even with a new battery. This from a battery electrical drain diagnostic from the GM service manual.

Connect positive (red) lead of digital multimeter to the second terminal in from the right on the ECM ALDL diagnostic connector under the instrument panel. Connect negative (black) lead to any good ground.

Turn ignition switch "ON" for five seconds and then "OFF". With ignition switch "ON" the meter should register five volts. With ignition "OFF," the voltage should be zero.

If the voltage is still being displayed on the multimeter and the ignition has been off for at least ten seconds, the ECM is staying activated when it shouldn't be and should be replaced.

If the ECM is replaced, the same "ON-OFF" test should be performed again to ensure the problem is corrected.

You can try this to see if it helps, also if it had been the fusible link to the starter solenoid he would not have been able to start the car when he changed the battery and alternator as mentioned in his previous posts.

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!

Maverick H1L

iTrader: (8)

That is, IF they can find the proper cable... They had this problem and sent me to AZ. AZ wouldn't test the alt because it had a bad casing due to metal fatigue, so I let it go and now my batt probably needs to be replaced...

Sleipnir

trickster, very good info, but my brain melted and pour out my ear after the first two seconds,i dont get it =) im going for my second or...third...or fouth, whatever im going at it again tonight. hopefully success! thanks for the posts all, ill try to find the fuseable link...

Trickster

How about if I e-mail you that page.

The Trickster!!!!!!!!!!

Sleipnir

new from the front

i think i might have the problem....


i was looking for the fuseable link, i never have seen one. but i think mines fried, pretty sure it is.
all the wires going to and coming from my starter, and are melted, header fodder... i think i will probably spend most of this weekend cutting them out, and reinserting them at such a length that will keep them away from those headers... WHY WHY WHY didnt i spend the extra money for the ceramic ones!!! or just saved the money and my wires. even the head sheild little ribbed black plastic things are melted... not just smoothed over metled, like their touching the frame melted... like 2 inches thick anyways, can someone explain to me the fuseable link part of this, i read in the chiltons that pretty much you cut it out and replace the wire, but that doesnt seem to coincide with the word fuse to me.... so i need an inline fuse or something???

thanks all

Dan86Z28

Well, you could go and purchase another fuseable link... They sell em at any decent auto parts store.. That'd be the smart thing to do anyway..

Sleipnir

but then the rest of the wires would still be melty

Sleipnir

a few more questions, im gona get supplies tonight and work tomorrow on it, some more symptoms i remembered that might help this evolution, i put in dual fans on my car, i hooked them up to an ignition slot in the fuse box (using spade heads) if i try to turn the car off with the fans on, it diesels down to being off. in the morning when its cold, sometimes a few of the lights work in my dash, and some work when their not supposed to (highbeams and both turn signal stay on) times vary on the length they stay on. when i hit the gas, cold or hot, the rpms drop dramatically before climbing back up, not just the guage, you can hear it in the engine too. so now i have a new batt and alt, and i cant keep a charge, im gonna change the linkable fuse to the alt, change the belt... a buncha stuff, do you think this could cure the problem? or just some of them, i think the rpms drop could be due to a shxxy ecm chip tho, not the biggest concern right now... i can deal with 12mpg but i cant deal with bumming rides to work every day, and driving my wifes car thats filled with garbage... thanks all

oh, and if its the fuseable link wouldnt it mean that the battery would just die as soon as the car ate up all the juice? and not get recharged at 10.2-10.8 volts? or is it possible the fuse is only "kinda" busted

Sleipnir

well i fixed the problem, its something none of you could have known about, caught it on accident... when i pulled my engine the shop was closing so the ONE wire, from the alternator to the post that sends it back to the battery, we cut it. then when we reconnected it with those little white plastic things with the screws on both side, well they had become unscrewed and melted, so i replaced it, and now im getting alot more than 15amps!!! yehaw, now ive bought a new battery, an alternator, and a bunch of other "stuff"...all i needed was the 2cent peice that i had in my console... o well... itll probably break again next week, thanks for your help everyone!