Well, the R is sitting in my garage. I was driving home when it shut off. No cranking, no electric power to lights, radio or anything else. I figured it was a bad battery but when I hooked it up to a charger it charged right up. Once the battery was loaded, I was able to start the car right up, radio, lights, everything came to life. So I pull the negative cable off the battery. Yes, I know this is not something I want to do too much but I wanted to see if the car remained running on alternator power.. but it died right off. So, battery at full charge, car runs fine. Disconnect the battery, car dies. Also, the "charge" light is lit in my cluster. I'm pretty sure its time to get a new alt but I wanted to hear from you guys before I dish $250 for a new one. I appreciate the help !!

 

What type/brand of battery do you have?
You can have both battery and alternator tested at Autozone for free.

 

you could check voltage, if its below 13 then you need to service alternator, if its above 13's then it might be voltage regulator but i'm not sure if that requires removal or alternator or not. check ground to the alternator and theres one fuse under dash i think.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by andyt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You can have both battery and alternator tested at Autozone for free.</TD></TR></TABLE>

+1 take it to Autozone or Advance if you have one closeby. They were very helpful when I was having battery/charging issues that turned out to be ground on batt.

 

Check your alternator belt (tension and condition). If you have access to a DMM get it and check voltage at the battery while car is running. There are a few tests to test your alternator itself but they are more for specific alternator components (diodes,regulator,positive cable(s),grounds, etc.) If you want specifics on them just shoot me a pm.

 

Yes, a trip to Autozone is on my to-do list. Due to my job, I really wont have a chance to check out the car until the weekend. I've already done a visual check of the belt and all connections to the alternator and they seem to be in good shape.

Do you believe its worth it to get the alternator rebuilt ?? I know I'll save a few bucks this way but I'd rather invest in a brand new one just to avoid the very painfull pull/reinstall process.