new alternator and battery - no interior power

[Gasolinebaptism]

I just replaced the alternator that I got in october, it was charging high.
So new alternator at 14.5 volts in yesterday. Today, battery dies, and tested no good. I figure it's the fault of being charged at 16.5v.
However, throughout today, before the battery dies, I had no power in the interior; seat belts, head light, radio...; until I start the car.
Now, I have a new battery in, same deal, no power til I start the car.
What is wrong?

 

[CrawlinZX14]

ign relay

 

[Gasolinebaptism]

if it were the ignition relay, then the car would not start, correct?

I replaced the ignition relay to no avail, it did not shange my symptoms.
Any help on this?

 

[stars]

Very interesting problem. Looks as though it is a power distribution circuit problem which can cover allot of parts, so we need to try to narrow your complaint to the source of the problem. So from your problem you are stating the power does come back to the rest of the system after engine start. So that means the key in accessory position you have no electricity for interior until the vehicle starts, then you have power where you did not before, and the car runs just fine...correct.. please correct me if I am wrong...k...will check back then go from there..

 

[toybreaker]

Check your alternator fuse

 

[CrawlinZX14]

Im going to say its likely a fuse blown or a relay. A relay will not effect ALL systems of the car at once. IGN relay is simply turned on with the key to supply power to everything else. It could very well be an ignition (the key) issue. Where the point for acc is no longer sending the power signal.

 

[Gasolinebaptism]

Very interesting problem. Looks as though it is a power distribution circuit problem which can cover allot of parts, so we need to try to narrow your complaint to the source of the problem. So from your problem you are stating the power does come back to the rest of the system after engine start. So that means the key in accessory position you have no electricity for interior until the vehicle starts, then you have power where you did not before, and the car runs just fine...correct.. please correct me if I am wrong...k...will check back then go from there..

Correct, everything functions like normal when engine is running, except for the fact that being completely without power when the key is turned off I lose my radio station memory.

Im going to say its likely a fuse blown or a relay. A relay will not effect ALL systems of the car at once. IGN relay is simply turned on with the key to supply power to everything else. It could very well be an ignition (the key) issue. Where the point for acc is no longer sending the power signal.

when the key turns to accessory, my turbo timer briefly turns on as it always does. I believe that would rule out this issue.

Check your alternator fuse

I believe this is in the positive post with the rad fans and the ignition fuse. If so, it's fine. looks new.

I have no idea what is going on.
If I must be honest, when I was changing my alternator I left the battery hooked up and when I was taking off the ground connector bolt, touched my wrench to the dipstick tube.
I was thinking it could have blown the alternator fuse. but it's looks perfectly fine.

 

[toybreaker]

The integrity of the alty fuse should be checked with a voltmeter, as a visual inspection doesn;t always tell the tale.

Just open the sides of the plastic casing that houses the fuses, and check both sides of the fuse for voltage.

 

[stars]

Go out an get a cheap test light and check each fuse individually, or use a volt/ohm meter and check the fuses for continuity. Since you arched the alt feed wire to the alternator to the dipstick, I would bet you have a blown fuse that is not supplying accessory power (10) amp. If all fuses check out ok then will have to dig deeper into the ignition side (meaning key, not coils) to find out where the problem is. Looking at the factory service manual I have, looks like that alternator feed wire is protected by a by 10Amp fuse and circuit also has an alternator relay and fusible link.

There is a fusible link wire attached but it is going to the voltage regulator which should not be your problem, because it is supplied by different power source. If fuses check all o.k. then will also suspect that relay then fusible link, and then check lastly for proper connection to the alternator since that was the last place you were working. It is allot easier checking this stuff first b4 we suspect its inside the ignition cyclinder itself, will leave that last since it's hardest to troubleshoot.

I bet you have either a blown fuse or wire not fully attached or connector not fully seated, making a poor connection. Try the fuse first then use your owners manual and swap that alternator relay with the air condition relay with another in the fuse block. See what you get or don't get by doing that first.

 

[Technoklipz]

You could also check to see if any wires are loose around the altenator and make sure they are plugged in correctly. Was everything working fine before? Check any fuses under the dash and engine bay that might be associated with the interior lights and accessories. I had something like this happen a few years ago and it was the door not closing tightly enough to fully comprese the buzzer switch. Good luck.

 

[norcal_drifter]

I had the same problem when I replaced my Batt and rewired my alt., check the positive side of the batt. That the connection is tight. There is a nut on top of the positive side terminal make sure it's tight and everything's making contact, I left mine unconnected because I was in a rush when I got in my car windows wouldn't roll down or no power until I turned my car on, so I got out and checked. I bolted everything down and I was all good!

 

[Gasolinebaptism]

Alternator fuse.
Thanks guys.

 

[stars]

Silly blown fuses are always the culprit normally if you ever arc a powered terminal to ground..not like I have never done that over the years. It happens so I hope you learned something from all of this.

Next time, I would disconnect the negative battery cable when your your under the hood doing a job such as alternator or starter replacement.

Disconnecting power from the battery is a good safety practice to go by and you will never have any problems if you disconnect from the power source before any electrical work is to be done.

Always remember take off the negative cable first because it makes less of an arc and there will be less likely chance of blowing a silly little .29 cents fuse when you go and connect the neg. cable back onto the battery terminal.

 

[Gasolinebaptism]

Silly blown fuses are always the culprit normally if you ever arc a powered terminal to ground..not like I have never done that over the years. It happens so I hope you learned something from all of this.

Next time, I would disconnect the negative battery cable when your your under the hood doing a job such as alternator or starter replacement.

Disconnecting power from the battery is a good safety practice to go by and you will never have any problems if you disconnect from the power source before any electrical work is to be done.

Always remember take off the negative cable first because it makes less of an arc and there will be less likely chance of blowing a silly little .29 cents fuse when you go and connect the neg. cable back onto the battery terminal.

Yea, I know, it's just one of those things where you're frustrated that nothing ever works, even when it's a new part, so I was a bit gung-ho I guess.

 

[stars]

No sweat my friend, I do this stuff for a living, and now its almost getting boring for me as a career, sad to say that when most people are out of a job right now. It takes patience to work under pressure, and when it's your own vehicle down it becomes even more of a challenge to cope with the events that are fixing to unfold.





P.S. You can put that old alternator back on and go return the one you installed and get your money back. You need a decent battery go out and get one made by Interstate Batteries or some name brand no el-cheapo. Your alternator was o.k. it shows it was putting out voltage, unless your battery was overheating and too hot to put your hand on the side of the battery and hold it there for a couple of minutes. That alternator output is acceptable. It's a bit high but if you add on some external accessories like an amp and subwoofer, I certainly don't see see any reason that alternator you originally had would have been considered far superior to the OEM one just because it did put out so high of voltage to begin with.

 

[Gasolinebaptism]

Well it turns out it was the second alternator that I got from O'reilly's, it blew the fuse on my drive to work with it, not when I arced to ground. Cause it happened a second time.
When I thought it was the battery, I had the battery tested bad at O'reilly's, and it was a 2 year old optima red top.. So I went to buy a battery at Napa, gave them my core, walked out. I find out the alternator isn't charging, and it did end up blowing that fuse twice. I bought a new alt. from Napa, and returned mine to O'reilly's. Went back to Napa, and my Optima Red top core tested just fine.
the guy that runs my O'reilly's is dishonest. It's kinda sad, but I'm moving my business to Napa.

So it all worked out in the end, because someone had stolen the battery from my Talon.. which makes it one less thing to buy. (I bought my core back at napa)

 

[Car Cannibal]

Could someone help by explaining where this 10amp alt fuse is in a 1G?

I'm having the same issue (no accessory power to door locks, dome light, head lights, radio keeping time but everything's fine after start up) but only see the 80amp fuse under the hood, not the 10amp the member who started this thread swapped out. (Member hasn't been on the board since 2014).

Thanks

 

[Vegas Smith]

Maybe it's the "gauge" fuse near your left foot? I didn't know there was a 10a alternator fuse.