[garrettsmith]

I have replaced the battery in my car 3 times in the last two months. Initially when the first one went bad I took the car to an indy and he said that it was the aftermarket CD changer that was not turning off. I was skeptical because I did not think CD changers could draw that much current. A couple of weeks later the battery went dead again so I bought a Bosch battery instead of the generic Advanced Auto Parts brand. This battery has lasted a few months but was dead again this morning. I think that this problem is a result of the alternator. When I try to start the car it will try and turn over but just does not have the juice and then the starter will start to click very quickly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.......

Thanks

 

[Gregs300CD]

Take a look at the voltage regulator first. It is held on to the face of it with two screws. If the brushes are not matching the contacts, they can wear unevenly and will eventually lose contact. You can flatten the brush(es) and reinstall if that is your problem. That should keep you going for another couple thousand miles.

Or sometimes, the voltage regulator just goes bad...

 

[carnut1]

Also these cars are hard on alternator belts. They start to slip because of age and will not allow the alternator to fully recharge the battery. With the engine off, try, by hand, to rotate the alt. pulley by hand either direction. If you can rotate the pulley, the belts too loose! Replace the belt and have someone verify the charging rate of the alternator. Replacing the regulator is not a waste of money nor time as a preventative replacement.

 

[p100]

I have seen an alternator with bad diodes bleed a perfectly good battery down in a day or so without any current draw in the system! Happened on my boat. Installing a new alternator solved the problem for good.

However, this may not be the problem in your case. First, is the alternator charging? Place the multimeter leads on the battery terminal with the engine running. Do you see about 13.5 Volts? Do this test without any other loading on the battery, such as glow plugs on, light on, etc. all these additional loads will markedly drop the battery voltage, even with the alternator fully funcional.

 

[andale]

Hi guys. Quick question on the voltage regulator. I took mine out and the brushes have worn very unevenly. One is short and stubby, the other is fairly long. Is this any indication of a bad alternator or just normal. -Thanks.

 

[rrgrassi]

Bad brushes. They should wear evenly. Just install a new voltage regulator. Also ,check and make sure the stator is not grooved, where the brushes make contact.

 

[andale]

The brushes are grooved at the ends where they make contact. They should have square ends right? The stator? Is that the end of the brushes or inside the alternator?

 

[rrgrassi]

The stator shaft is inside the alternator, where the brushes make contact.

 

[MB-Owner-in-ind]

Make a quick check of the voltage when the car is running. Should be just short of 14 volt

 

[Gregs300CD]

I don't think it's the voltage regulator that is the culprit - that thing is pretty simple and can't change. I think when they rebuild some alternators, they push the contacts too far down on the shaft.

I took mine back to "the Zoo" and had them replace it even so I didn't have a receipt after a year.