okay i was driving normally and the whole car just shut down...i tryed starting it and the battery just died...i was told it was the Alternator....is there anyway that i could Check if im getting power back From my Alternator???i need help ppl......Is there way to check Alternator without pulling it out??...meter or something???i neep help...

 

Any body........bump

 

please help anybody???

 

You must have a voltmeter to do this.
jump start it, remove cables, you should see about 14v. if voltage drops the alternator isn't charging. what happens when you try to start it?

 

turn on the car, pop the hood, and pull off the negative cable on the battery. if the car shuts off that means isn't producing enough charge

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sheemo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">turn on the car, pop the hood, and pull off the negative cable on the battery. if the car shuts off that means isn't producing enough charge</TD></TR></TABLE>

I would have been doing it the hard way. good tip

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sheemo3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">turn on the car, pop the hood, and pull off the negative cable on the battery...</TD></TR></TABLE>That's kinda old-school. Sometimes it produces voltage spikes that can fry your ECU. Eda6_hb's method is better.

 

Hmmm... Compare the voltage of the car battery off to that of it running, it should jump from 12 to atlest 14.4 and it should be able to hold that voltage as long as the engine is running? (not sure...)

Then again, you could umm...

 

so...whle car running pull the negative out??...see if the alternator is charging the battery

 

Leave the battery connected. In fact, check it's connections for corrosion, & tighten them.

Start the engine. Maybe you'll have to use jumper cables to do this, if your battery's dead.

Measure the battery voltage. Then unhook the jumper cables, measure it again. If it drops to 12v or so when you take off the cables, then your alternator isn't working. The alternator's supposed to hold it up around 14v or so.

That's what eda6 hb suggested for you to do...

If you disconnect your own battery while the engine's running, there's a small chance the voltage spikes will fry your ECU.

 

i check it and right now the battery hitting 11.8volts

 

Less then 12v when the engine's running, that means your alternator is not charging. Is the charging idiot light on (or burned out...)?

First, make sure all the connections are clean & tight.
- Both battery cables, both ends, & the big engine ground cable.
- - (including where the cable itself is crimped into the connector)
- Alternator grounded properly (through it's bracket) to the engine.
- Remaining connections at the alternator.

There's a large wire bolted onto the alternator, usually has a rubber boot over it. Measure the voltage at that bolt, to a good ground like the alternator bracket. If that's a good 14 or 14.5v, then look again for loose & corroded connections 'cause you missed it.

If there's no dumb problem with those connections, that leaves a bad alternator.

Just for other people reading this thread, if the voltage had been 14v with the engine running, that's only the beginning. It's supposed to STAY up there when you turn on all the loads you can. Headlights, defogger, fans, normal stereos, whatever.

 

fixed

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eda6 hb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would have been doing it the hard way. good tip </TD></TR></TABLE>

No it's a stupid tip, doing that can kill your alternator in as little as 10 seconds.

 

Here's something simple to do. Start your car, preferably in the dark, and turn on your headlights. Note the brightness. Then turn off the motor. Note any change in brightness. If he lights don't dim when you shut off the motor, you DEFINITELY have a bad alternator.

 

i use SAt Vat 40...to check the alternator....

 

To be perfectly safe , don't run engine w/o a battery attached .
But taking the devils advocate ...
There's lots of 12 volt loads , so "spiking" is difficult to do .
Spikes are very dangerous when there are no loads to draw current .
These loads can take more current than their R would suggest 'cause
above 12 volts , they're non linear . ( ohms ) ,
so spikes are hard to generate above 15 volts .
Alternators can make 115 volts DC if you seperate the wires properly .
The regulators are built in today , so you must make up a resistive divider
to drop the 115 vdc to 14.4 vdc then into the regulator wire .
Using SCR's you can get 115VAC . Each 60 hz wave will be made up of
several positive going waves of the alternator , which is running much higher
frequency . But the delta would alternators are lower voltage / higher current
for the wire size , so try to find a "Y" wound .
All alternators will make their peak power at much higher voltages than
what your battery needs !