Not so tough Alternator

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ifixalot
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Posts: 668
Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:56 am
Location: Deerfield Illinois

Not so tough Alternator

Post by ifixalot »

One time, after I bought this car, it's 2yr old battery died, (no crank after sitting a few days).
I thought maybe the previous owner let the battery sulfate, it otherwise seemed fine.
I bought a new battery and put it in. Since I wasn't driving the car regularly, I kept a float charger
on it. Now, I've been driving it more and since it's summer, I've been using the AC. Well one day,
I went to start the car and,,,no crank. I put a charger on it and got it going. I thought parasite drain
so, I stuck a meter on it and checked. Nope very little drain, hmmmm. OK I don't know what happened.
The volt meter seems to show a charge so wtf? Ultimately, I forgot about it again.
So I'm watching this TV show and a guy changes his newer starter and then discovers his alternator wasn't charging.
They showed the volt meter in one camera shot and it reminded me about my 88.
Next day I'm driving the 88 and I look at the volt meter. It's above half way so I think all is well. BUT, I didn't have the AC on.
So I turn it on and the volt meter goes down to below half. But nowhere near the warning marks on the meter.
I decide to check voltage with a good digital meter when I get home.
With no AC on, I get 13.4 volts but with AC on and fan on high, I get 12.6 volts even while revving the engine.
So it turns out, this alternator is not putting out enough.
I swapped it with a good used one off my mini van, swapping the pulley. Now I have 13.4 volts with the AC on.
When removing the bad alternator, I see it was a rebuilt unit. I wonder if it was bad after the rebuild or died in service.
I've had aftermarket parts go bad after very little use.
Anyway, I'm enjoying this little ol 88 since it's my only Beretta since selling the 96. It gets looks as I drive around.
I had a guy comment he hadn't seen a Beretta in years and mentioned how mine looked so clean inside and out.
Attachments
Bad 88 Alt (1).JPG
HPIM1309.JPG


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