5th alternator in a month...help.

[mohog]

my volts are at about 9 and i can't fix it. everyplace i get it tested they tell me it's the alternator and the battery is fine. i replaced the alternator last night and once again i'm at 9 volts. my lights are dim and it won't let me switch into overdrive (i'm guessing it's some sort of backup charging system that keeps my rpm's higher to charge the battery) or i could be wrong. i do have upgraded wire for the system but i turned the system off and lights off and i'm still at 9 volts. any ideas?

 

[hydroxy]

replace the battery and see what's up...

 

[huskyfan23]

If your battery isn't charging and you've gone through that many alternators, ever thought about trying a new battery?

 

[mohog]

when i go to pep boys or autozone they always tell me that my battery is fine, they do their little tests on it, but maybe it is the battery.

 

[mohog]

so we just swapped out my battery with a battery from another explorer that had a decent charge on it and i still got the same problem. i even kept my headlights off and system off and i was right about 9.5 volts. any other thoughts

 

[ExplorerDMB]

Make sure you don't have any current draw from your amp. I noticed on your signature you have a pretty powerful amp....also - the alternator your using might not be enough juice for your system. Hope this helps

-Drew

 

[huskyfan23]

Oh, wow, 2 1600 watt amps, lol. Could be those. Unplug them and see if there's a change. After going through 1 new alternator I'd have someone looking at my X.

 

[mohog]

i had all the amps turned off and disconnected to make sure already but there was still the low volts. i also had the heater/ac turned off and headlights off. i revved up the engine but the volt meter didn't move, even with the new battery

 

[huskyfan23]

Volt meter meaning.. the gauge? When you're moving does it rise? And how's the alternator wiring?

 

[mohog]

yeah the guage and if i turn the amps on they blink telling me that i'm running under 10 volts. when i'm moving the volts don't move hardly at all which would lead me to beleive bad alternator. the wiring from the alt. to the battery is 0/1 guage with l.a. battery terminals and connectors (90 bucks).

 

[huskyfan23]

You could have a bad gauge.. Have you used a digital multimeter on the alternator with the vehicle running? With a stock alternator and no cap those amps are probably drawing lots of power that'll dim lights.

 

[mohog]

yeah i thought that too but too test that i turned on my amps and they started blinking telling me that the volts are low and i had the system turned off when i was driving. i'll do the volt test on it tomorrow, i'm gonna stop by autozone on my way to work or home from work to get it done. my guage does mess up a lot, it hardly ever tells me my oil pressure. welcome to used carland

 

[huskyfan23]

The oil gauge is a "dummy" gauge. The gauge goes to normal when you have a certain pressure level, and anything below that level sends the gauge to the red.

 

[mohog]

does that mean my oil pressure is low? or that my guage may be bad too, i'm starting to want a new car.

 

[Mbrooks420]

How about the wires going from the battery? Those are common to corrode partway down the cable. Check the ohms on the cables, and check the ground.

 

[mohog]

i did some research and i think i found the answer, it's my positive wire coming from the battery, i didn't think about it until mbrooks mentioned it and it turns out that's a big issue for these trucks and you can't even see the corrosion b/c it's way down in the wire so i'm going to go fishin around and try to replace the whole wire, anyone know where it goes to? (the bigger of the three, or two, positive wires coming from terminal)

 

[Mbrooks420]

I'd replace both of the cables(+, and -). I think the big cable goes to the starter solenoid.

 

[mohog]

how difficult will it be to get to the starter silenoid, what will i have to take off to get there?

 

[Mbrooks420]

I don't think anything has to come off.

 

[mohog]

so where about do you think the starter is?