Charging system problem 2g spyder

[spyderman1997]

So i feel relieved because i finally figured it out. MAKE SURE IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM LIKE THIS TO TAKE OUT YOUR ALT FUSE AND OR REPLACE!!! mine was not blown but it finally did, now replaced and working!!!!!!








I have searched and most people seem to have similar problems however no solutions were ever documented. I have been around cars for many years and work at autozone so i have access to all the test equipment.

Ok so the problem is my battery wont charge. it all started when i used a jumper wire to go between the power and remote slots on my amp because my remote wire had gone bad. This was just a temporary fix that i used for several days. i know my amp was always on and would cause a slow drain. Well one morning the battery was really low on charge so i push started it and it ran but poorly and didnt have enough power to hardly use the wiper. I dont understand why the battery light and the brake light come on at the same time but thats what it did.
went to work and charged my battery fully and tested. good battery
performed an on the car charging system test that takes its reading from the battery, this showed about 11-12 volts coming into the battery, so i thought it was the alternator. Replaced that along with the belt. it worked great for a while but then the same thing started happening. i tested the alt that i took off and it was good. sometimes if the car sits for a while the batt will get charged for 5 mins when i first start the car. Since that first morning i completely disconnected my amp and wiring. i did the alternator test on the car with 2 diff alts and they both did the same thing. also swapped batteries. All connections to battery are fresh as i thouroughly cleaned them. Also cleaned the ground next to the battery. triple checked connections at the alternator and belt tension. all fuses are good.
Soo it would seem that i probably have a short that sometimes gets a good contact because it will charge sometimes.

To test this can i run a wire from the alt to the battery to see if this remedies the problem?
What other tests should i perform? i have to drive this car to work and though it has never died on me because of this, its a pain in the butt and i cant even use m headlights to drive at night. any help would be great!

 

[cavillac]

sounds like the battery to me allthough you say its good.. what test did you use? VAT-40?

 

[spyderman1997]

i used the arbst tester that looks like r2d2 hah. i tried 2 different batteries however the other battery quite possibly could be bad as well.

 

[Executionerhk]

i used the arbst tester that looks like r2d2 hah. i tried 2 different batteries however the other battery quite possibly could be bad as well.

my battery won't charge too... i donno why... new battery and recharged any overnight it will die...

i am thinking maybe we both have something short...
so it drain the battery...

anyone know how to check where is short?

 

[spyderman1997]

can you run a wire from the ALT to the batt to bypass a short, just to test?

 

[hdoerr]

I would say that you have a short that is not related to your amp or charging system. I do not know but is the voltage regulator inside the altenator in a 2G or is it external. If it is external it could be bad.

 

[spyderman1997]

it is internal, but i have had2 diff alts tried. i think it would be reallllly rare that they both worked intermittantly. my original one tested fine off the car but not on the car.

 

[hdoerr]

I would say double and tripple check your charging wires and connections but that would be to simple of a problem.

 

[spyderman1997]

haha yea these things could never be this simple. do you know if you can run a new wire from the alt to battery just to bypass any short?

 

[gma0408]

i replaced my 2 white wires from the alternator to the 100amp fuse with better ones. I also used 4ga and grounded the alternator directly....I used the stud that holds the bracket to keep the harness in place. Check you 4 wire plug. The green and white wires go to the ecu. Im not sure if it is directly.

Does anyone know where the 4 wires specifically go to?

 

[spyderman1997]

so i hear from another forum that the alternator is controlled by the ECU? anyone know of this or if it can cause the problem im having?! im getting annoyed not being able to listen to the radio or turn on my headlights!

 

[gma0408]

Do a drop voltage test on the wires. The green and white wire go to pin 33 and 41.


See if taking out that plug does anything.

 

[spyderman1997]

could you give me a little more information on how to do that? im getting really tired of this mess

 

[spyderman1997]

so i traced wiring and checked connections fuses everything. im thinking i got a bad alt again cause my original one tested good on a bench tester but im thinking theres something going on with it that isnt detected by the autozone testers, maybe like amp output? cause i had the new one thats on my car now tested on the car at the battery and it was putting out like 9 amps and 12 volts. what are the amps for and what should they be at?

 

[cavillac]

yep sounds like your alt bad, it should be charging somewhere between 13.3-14.5 volts depending on climate, I'm not sure the spec on 2g's Amperage but it should be putting out around 60

 

[spyderman1997]

update. so i got ANOTHER alternator and the light was off for a little bit. then it came on kind of and now it flickers? all connections are tight. i dont get it!