Put in new ALT. now ABS light on??

[mknott4]

need help

I put in a new alternator last night from auto zone, I got the 130 amp one instead of a 95 amp like the one that was in there i believe. It went on fine but a few min after driving it the ABS light came on and stayed on and the battery meter occaisionally peakes out during acceleration or other random times for short periods. What could this be and how can I fix it anyone have any ideas? I still works fine as far as I know but I dont want to hurt or screw up anything so please reply with any knowledge about this problem

 

[Opera House]

Was the old alternator bad?

A number of alternators are replaced because of wiring problems and somemtimes these problems are temporarily fixed when the wires are moved around. Areas to look at are the engine to the body ground connection and the connections on the 15A fuse that suplies the regulator. The meter peaking out is not normal even for higher power alternators.

 

[timleedude]

Don't rule out a defective replacement alternator. I had one that would try to put out 17+volts. It made all kinds of things go weird. Measure the output of the ALT.

-Tim

 

[Rhett]

Your post makes me wonder...

IS the ABS system really sensitive to the voltage it's getting?

I've been getting intermittent ABS light for some time, and I'm wondering if it's not electrical in some way. My alt is a little old and sometimes the voltage drops or spikes a bit on the gauge...

 

[mknott4]

How would I go about measuring the volts in the alternator? Another thign I have noticed is that when I accelerate hard and the batt gage peaks my subs shut off for a second then come back on when I let off the gas so the gauge will go down.

 

[timleedude]

To measure the voltage, connect a volt meter across the + and - terminals of the battery. While car is off, a fully charged battery should read about 12.5volts. With engine running, it should read about anywhere from 13.5 - 14.5volts or so. Try to rev the engine to see what the voltage peaks at.. it should not go beyond 15volts. If it does then you have a defective alternator (the regulator is not limiting the voltage to your car).

-Tim

 

[bigtime57]

abs light

Just to tell you about my experience im having now with my 99 exp. My battery light has come on and my battery was running down and how i can tell when the battery is getting real low is my ABS light comes on and I had better get parked really quick because its going dead. Recharged the battery and put it back on and light went off . . . Now if only I could figure out what my charging problem is I would be happy. .

 

[timleedude]

Bigtime57,

Sounds like your alternator is BAD. It's not good to let your battery run down too often. It will damage the battery after a while. Then you'll need a new battery. If you measure your voltage across the battery terminals and you get less than 12.5volts (while car is running), then most likely the alternator is bad.

-Tim