New Alternator and battery comes with free electrical issues....

[FunnyGas]

So my alternator went on me the other day. Took the battery out with it (I later found out).
So I got an AC Delco reman'd Alternator (stock mistu alt.) and installed it. Then yesterday got a new battery, and installed that.
Car fires great. Better than before. Cold start fired within 2 seconds. Runs great, idles great.
But...
Before I fired up the car.. nothing power worked in the car. Power door locks, lights, nothing...
When I fired up the car I had minute accessory power. Deck was off, and would not come on. Interior lights were so dim they were almost off.
Until I revved the engine. Then all accessory power came back. Deck turned on.
Now my voltmeter reads 12v when the the engine is off... but stays at 12v when the car is running.
I put in a new battery because of this issue cause my old one was toast, and the issue persists...
I checked all my fuses, none are blown.
Im at a loss... what should I check? What can I do from here?

 

[absolute_DSM]

Where did you get the alternator and what brand battery did you get?

 

[FunnyGas]

got the alternator at lordco.
battery is a kirkland brand (from costco) its been tested and is in perfect working order (according to a battery shop in town)
yah. if i goto the car right now. with the car off, key not in the ignition. nothing works. power locks, lights.. nothing.
they wont come on until I start the car and rev it up.

 

[Raph]

Looks like the alternator is a doa..it hapens

and youve got good ground..right???..more than likley that its a ground issue.. look at all your ground wires.. seems like your car has power(+).. but its trying/getting all its ground(-) from one source..lookj into it

 

[absolute_DSM]

Yes you need to check your grounds, like the battery to the chassis and the engine to chassis straps.

Also, are you sure you got the right alternator? It sounds like maybe you got a lower amp rating than what came OEM.

 

[FunnyGas]

ill double check the grounds, but i cleaned the terminal all up, cleaned off the ends of thegound cables that attach to the battery when i installed it. from what i saw before (will go check again) the ground cables looked good. the alternator looks to be the stock mitsubishi unit, rebuilt by AC Delco of course. its a 1992 AWD TSi.. that should be a 90 amp alternator right...?

EDIT:
Checked the ground wires comming off the battery. they connect on both ends.. removed and cleaned the contact points. issue persists.
its odd cause the car has NO power with the ignition off...

 

[steve]

Double check the alternator fusable link. The one that bolts in.

 

[booostedGSX]

I'm having almost the exact same issue. Put a new alternator in from Advance Auto. The alternator seemed like it didn't want to charge the battery and voltmeter read only 12v. But, I checked the current at the battery and it was a solid 14.5v; same at the alternator. Installed a new battery today and the car will fire and run, but seems like its only running on battery power. The voltmeter still reads ~12v. The part that confuses me is when I am stopped or at relatively low RPMs and turn the wheel, three dash lights come on: battery, brake, and low coolant... Would it possibly be the alternator relay or the fusible link for the alternator?

Note: I have checked all fuses and all are okay.

Any help is appreciated, and I'm sorry if I jacked the thread.

 

[FunnyGas]

so i hooked a jumper cable from my ground terminal on the battery to about 20 different places (engine block, frame rails, chassis, firewall) no difference.
i think it might be a power issue.. its odd..
its like the car is not getting power from the battery, but the starter is.
so i guess its possible that when the alt / battery went it could have effed up the positive side of my electrical system somewhere.. i would have to find where tho..and i have no idea how to, or where to start... but if that was the case.. shouldnt fuses and / or fusible links have blown?

 

[FunnyGas]

eff... pulled the positive termial off the battery with the car running... car died...

 

[dsmspeedfreak]

double check all your conections and your grounds it sounds like a ground issue.

 

[FunnyGas]

yah, i cleaned up all the connections(cleaned off all corrosion and grime, and sanded them down to bare fresh metal on both ends of the cables) on the 2 ground cables comming off the battery... didnt help. i went as far as hooking up one side of jumper cables to the gound terminal on the battery and hooking it to various places in the engine bay.. didnt help at all...
on the alternator.. there are 2 connections.. one hasa plastic clip.. the other (the B+ i believe) bolts to the alternator... the B+ is the output from the alternator that goes to the alt fuse then to the battery correct? what is the other one that clips in?

 

[JMiller]

I had the same problem with my old eclipse turns out the store gave me the wrong alternator. It bolted up the same way but wasnt the right amount of amps, i took it back they replaced it car worked fine.

 

[FunnyGas]

so... as it sits now... i dunno seems odd to me that the alt would keep the car from having any accessory power until i rev the engine. it starts great.. i even hooked up some jumper cables from another car... voltmeter showed 14v.no acc power... until i revved the engine. we'll see new alternator goes in tomorrow morning...

 

[steve]

You might want to check and see if you have the same problem as Jay http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/pro...ical-accessories-work-unless-car-running.html

 

[FunnyGas]

i keep hearing i need a 90 amp alternator
lordco's computer shows that i need a 65 amp alt, and that the 90 is optional...
so they gave me a 65 amp one at first.. which do i need? the 90? or the 65? how can i check?

 

[steve]

According to the 1G FSM all Canadian turbo cars should have a 90A alternator.

There were three alternators on 1Gs.

The 65A was used on US M/T N/A cars.
The 75A was used on US A/T N/A, US Turbo, Canadian 1.8L and 2.0L M/T N/A cars
The 90A was used on Canadian 2.0L A/T N/A and all turbo cars.

I believe the uprated alternator was due to the daytime running lights.

 

[booostedGSX]

I can't figure out why mine doesn't seem like the alternator is running the car, its running on battery power alone. And I can't figure out why the three lights come on the dash when I turn the wheel at low revs.