I guess I need a new alternator?

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by Hammer

Hi Craig,

I use another foolproof method to determine if the alternator is charging or not. Place the the tip of a screwdriver at the back (if you can get to the back) of the alternator where the bearing is located. Keep it a little ways from the bearing area and move it slowly towards the area. If it is charging, the screwdriver will be sucked to the area by the magnetic field created. No suckie...no chargie. it won't tell you if the alternator is weak, just if it is working. So far this has been a failsafe way of telling if the alternator is bad or not.

Good Luck

Hey John,

Thanks for the tip and I never thought about that. I have not had a chance to check it out further, but hope to this weekend. All I know is the voltage drops about a volt a minute so there must be no charge at all. When I was driving home that last time once it hit 7 volts everything started to go haywire and no dash, etc.

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by HAWAIIZR-1

Hey John,

Thanks for the tip and I never thought about that. I have not had a chance to check it out further, but hope to this weekend. All I know is the voltage drops about a volt a minute so there must be no charge at all. When I was driving home that last time once it hit 7 volts everything started to go haywire and no dash, etc.

I'm surprised you made it to 7v.
Sounds like the field winding is not getting energized at all.
Or if it is you've lost a diode in the diode pack.
Maybe the two spade connector is loose? (You could be so lucky)

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Originally Posted by scottfab

I'm surprised you made it to 7v.
Sounds like the field winding is not getting energized at all.
Or if it is you've lost a diode in the diode pack.
Maybe the two spade connector is loose? (You could be so lucky)

Scott,

Yes, I was very surprised too about the 7v reading when I arrived to my home and barely made it to back it in the garage when it died. The connection were good or at least appeared that way when I checked it. I think it was a cheap rebuild, but can't remember since I purchased it years ago. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Craig