2G On my 4th alternator now... Need help

[Benshooter]

Just when I thought I had cured all my electrical problems...

So I've been going through reman alternators like crazy. I replaced the first one when I got the car. Drove about 500 miles on it and it died, failed all 3 tests. Drove about 250 miles on the next, died and failed all 3 again. New alternator, made it back home about 300 miles and now this one appears to be shot. I just finished cleaning up my wiring and I have no bad grounds.

I did the "2 minute alternator circuit test" designed for 1Gs and the red wire on the plug lights, but not the black with yellow stripe, no dim light and I didnt get anything from it by increasing rpm. What exactly does this black/yellow wire do? Is it necessary? Will the 1g circuit test work on my 95 2G?

I thought it might have been a bad batch of alternators at first since remans are hit and miss as we know but I've tried the same alternators from 2 different states now and I'm still crapping them out. I think autozone is going to start denying my warranties soon. My battery is fine.

This one is really driving me up the wall. Hopefully luv2rally will save me again.

 

[Squirrel8811]

I work at AZ and I have a alternator from us and mine works fine. I went through 3 alternators from O'reiliys (had to have it that day and we had to order it) before I got one of ours. Did you buy the Duralast for the Valutrash? If its the Duralast then lifetime is lifetime. As long as the alt keeps failing the tests at Auto Zone then you are good. They may tell you to try and see if something else is making it fail. You may check your battery cables. Cut one open alittle and see if its green (corroded). Any resistance in the circuit will cause the alt to over work itself. Just check all your connections and look for corrosion.

 

[Benshooter]

Its the duralast. I wouldn't let anything valucraft touch my car. My cables and clamps are nearly new...

The only other thing that just now dawned on me is that I took the heat wrap of my tubular headers, and even though they're away from the alt a bit (the wastegate, o2 housing, and downpipe are closer and have never been wrapped...) could that heat be killing it? And if the heat was getting that bad, wouldn't it just kill the diodes, instead of trashing the whole thing?

I've seen alternators, even remans, take a lot of heat and deal with moderate resistance fine.

 

[Squirrel8811]

Yea that could be a problem but your alternator is still almost on the ground and its frickin cold outside. If everything else is ok you may just have bad luck. I dont know. Ill keep thinking on it.

 

[97gst1126]

Man i have went through 6 yes SIX alternators from orielly's now. I notice that i will peak around 15.3 sometimes and it will work for a few months and then quit. I think It may be the voltage regulator inside the ecu in my case because if i turn on my lights or brake then the voltage fluctuates like crazy. Maybe you have a bad voltage regulator? Im in the same boat as you. I hate replacing them it's a pita to do it when its 10 degree's outside.

 

[blackrosenova40]

Make sure your battery is good. If its fine, voltage drop test your alternator + and ground side. Do this by using a meter on the positive of the alternator and positive of the battery, and then turn on all accesories like your headlights, blower fan ect ect. This will tell you if you have a bad or corroded connection. Anything over .04 volts is bad. Then repeat this step for the ground. There should be a ground terminal on the alternator, but stock it is not used.

 

[Squirrel8811]

The voltage regulator is inside the alternator.

 

[Benshooter]

Man i have went through 6 yes SIX alternators from orielly's now. I notice that i will peak around 15.3 sometimes and it will work for a few months and then quit. I think It may be the voltage regulator inside the ecu in my case because if i turn on my lights or brake then the voltage fluctuates like crazy. Maybe you have a bad voltage regulator? Im in the same boat as you. I hate replacing them it's a pita to do it when its 10 degree's outside.

I'm pretty sure the only voltage regulator is the one inside the alt. Do you know who remanufacturea oriellys alternators? I'm curious if it's the same company that does the AZ ones. I hear you on that, the last alternator I changed was in the parking lot in cedar city on my way back home. Must have been close to 0 with the wind chill. It only takes 10 minutes or less but all I had was jeans and a sweater.

blackrosenova40 Make sure your battery is good. If its fine, voltage drop test your alternator + and ground side. Do this by using a meter on the positive of the alternator and positive of the battery, and then turn on all accesories like your headlights, blower fan ect ect. This will tell you if you have a bad or corroded connection. Anything over .04 volts is bad. Then repeat this step for the ground. There should be a ground terminal on the alternator, but stock it is not used.

All my wiring and cables are fine. My battery isn't brand ass new but I had it tested and it's fine. Even if I had a little bit of resistance or a little parasitic draw, the alternator should handle it. I have no bad grounds in my entire system, and the wires between the alt plug and + terminal are good, minus the one black/yellow wire in question.

Like I said, in my own experience, alternators, even remans, require more than a little resistance to be totally FUBARd.

One thing that did just hit me... This morning I left my driveway and went through 12 inches of powder on my 100' driveway. My + terminal is uncovered... Could some snow have been thrown up in there and grounded the + terminal into the casing? Just a thought, I'm trying to cover EVERYTHING.

 

[97gst1126]

I have always been told the voltage regulator was placed inside the ecu for some reason. Maybe its the 420a that has them built into the ecu? I dont know , but i just read over some diagrams on another site and all i could find was them internally regulated and i also read though it should remain arond 14.4volts. Mine will hit upwards of 15volts. Weird I went and have done the alternator rewire to. I do not understand how 6 alternator's can take a complete crap. I am unsure of the brand ill check it out.

Just checked there website and it must be a ultima one. None of the others look anything like mine.

 

[Benshooter]

I have always been told the voltage regulator was placed inside the ecu for some reason. Maybe its the 420a that has them built into the ecu? I dont know , but i just read over some diagrams on another site and all i could find was them internally regulated and i also read though it should remain arond 14.4volts. Mine will hit upwards of 15volts. Weird I went and have done the alternator rewire to. I do not understand how 6 alternator's can take a complete crap. I am unsure of the brand ill check it out.

Just a theory, but I think they kept the regulator out of the ECM to prevent a possible surge to it.

I just looked at the little card that comes ziptied to the reman and it says "ISO/TS"

 

[Niteninja01]

Do you have oil leaks around your alternator? My friend kept killing them because of oil leaking onto it. It's just a thought I would share.

 

[Benshooter]

Do you have oil leaks around your alternator? My friend kept killing them because of oil leaking onto it. It's just a thought I would share.

Nope, and I don't have pwr steering so that isn't a leak issue either.

Another update; I found two wires in the cabin that are black with a yellow stripe. One goes into the ECM, the other into the column. Neither lights at all with key in on position. I would love I someone had a circuit test for 2Gs or if they could confirm that it's the same as the 1G circuit test

I went to AZ today and swapped out the alternator so I'm officially on my 4th now.

The one I brought in that was bad was putting out 15.5 volts at idle after the engine had been revd.

Ideas?

 

[dusty-gst]

heh, i have a reman alt from Advanced Auto, when my alt started acting up it was crazy, my turbo timer showed my volts at a constant 15.9V my stereo wouldnt turn on and the car was over heating. my fan wouldnt kick on.... AND it was throwing sparks

 

[JAXWHITE1G]

The wiring in our older cars is getting poor. There can be a lot of resistance in the wiring harness that can damage the alternator. I would recommend adding an 8 gage wire directly from the alt to the positive side of the battery. Do not remove the OEM wire just add on top and straight to the positive terminal. It will charge better and have more stable voltage.

Mike

 

[Benshooter]

The wiring in our older cars is getting poor. There can be a lot of resistance in the wiring harness that can damage the alternator. I would recommend adding an 8 gage wire directly from the alt to the positive side of the battery. Do not remove the OEM wire just add on top and straight to the positive terminal. It will charge better and have more stable voltage.

Mike

Wouldn't that bypass the fuse and be dangerous?
I barely have any resistance in those wires. I checked them, and the guys at AZ checked them. They're fine.

I guess I do have an update though; I was pming luv2rallye and we figured out I was missing the generator "relay". When I got the car it had a box of spare parts, gaskets, an old KS, nuts and bolts, etc. One of the items in there was a pigtail and a relay looking thing. Sure enough, I inspected the harness and they had clipped it right off for whatever reason. So I wired the pigtail in and hooked up the relay. The alternator now kicks on at any rpm, not just when I rev it to 3k.

 

[blackrosenova40]

NO NO. I told this guy to check for bad wiring by doing a voltage drop test but wouldnt listen by stating the wiring looks good. Since electricity takes the path of least resistance, any current limited by resistance in the wire will show up on the meter. Its quite a simple test to do, but I guess visually checking is fine and leaves nothing unanswered

The wiring in our older cars is getting poor. There can be a lot of resistance in the wiring harness that can damage the alternator. I would recommend adding an 8 gage wire directly from the alt to the positive side of the battery. Do not remove the OEM wire just add on top and straight to the positive terminal. It will charge better and have more stable voltage.

Mike

 

[DSM1G90]

I think autozone

..which is the No.1 problem with this whole equasion.

Auto"CRAP"zone is good for on the counter stuff, but stay away from the parts department.

Have you got a lot of power hogging junk (like amps and junk) soaking up current? If do, you need a higher output alternator.

 

[stevestevesteve]

I have always been told the voltage regulator was placed inside the ecu for some reason. Maybe its the 420a that has them built into the ecu? I dont know , but i just read over some diagrams on another site and all i could find was them internally regulated and i also read though it should remain arond 14.4volts. Mine will hit upwards of 15volts. Weird I went and have done the alternator rewire to. I do not understand how 6 alternator's can take a complete crap. I am unsure of the brand ill check it out.

Just checked there website and it must be a ultima one. None of the others look anything like mine.

You are correct, Chrysler products had the voltage regulator in the ECU, but in the 4g63's it is in the Alternator itself.

 

[blackrosenova40]

How did you check resistance? Reading how many ohms is is across the wires, or voltage drop? Reading how many ohms is across the wire will tell you nothing other than its open or closed. I could use a 20 gauge wire for my alternator, it would read .01 ohms but that doesnt mean it can handle the current an alternator puts out.

If you didnt voltage drop the + and - , voltage drop it and go from there.

 

[DSM1G90]

but in the 4g63's it is in the Alternator itself.

Actually, it be the Mitsu/Densu/Import alternator design. GM also put the regulators in the alternators as well.

the OP did mention on a good battery, but has the OP tried a new battery? For even a "good battery" if listed, could have issues to put work on the alternator.

 

[4g63eclason]

my beast also dies when put the clutch in not all the time but sometimes. embarrassing.. iac valve? what is that do you have a picture so i know what it looks like.. also i dont have a ground coming off the harness to my altinator would this cause that also my light dim when i hit the brake and idle drops too when i turn anything on such as my lights or heater vents or defrost. what would cause this??

 

[Benshooter]

NO NO. I told this guy to check for bad wiring by doing a voltage drop test but wouldnt listen by stating the wiring looks good. Since electricity takes the path of least resistance, any current limited by resistance in the wire will show up on the meter. Its quite a simple test to do, but I guess visually checking is fine and leaves nothing unanswered

I actually did test the voltage drop. In fact it was one of the very first things I did when I crapped out my 2nd alt. I checked the resistance as well since I was always taught "I = V/R" The guys at autozone are a good bunch but for the most part I just humor them. Just becuase I'm confined to posting in the newb forum doesn't mean i'm a complete newb, mkay? I just try to maintain a humble approach since no one is going to help someone who thinks they already figured it out.

by your rolling eyes I get the impression that you think I just gave the charging system a once over and decided to get on the internets and hassle everybody. Yeah, I had the entire harness between the alternator, the fuse box, and the battery unloomed so I could check the two big white B+ wires. They're fine, the copper isn't greening and corroding, there's no pinching or places where insulation has been stripped and left exposed.

This al seems beside the point, this thread is a little old and I'm pretty sure by wiring the "relay" back in everything seems to be proper. Oh and I bought an autozone alt because I'm not exactly bleeding money right now as I'm getting a reposession business going. If I could afford the brand new Bosch for $450 I would get it in a heartbeat.

..which is the No.1 problem with this whole equasion.

Auto"CRAP"zone is good for on the counter stuff, but stay away from the parts department.

Have you got a lot of power hogging junk (like amps and junk) soaking up current? If do, you need a higher output alternator.

Nope. I have a serious amp in there and some great mids ad tweeters but no sub, so no serious draw. And besides this one vehicle, I've always had good results with autozone parts. Obviously my confidence in them has been shaken though.

 

[d1prospect]

heat could be killing it if you don't use the factory heat shields or atleast wrap the manny and o2 housing . i just relocated mine to the back since i don't have ac anyway

 

[Benshooter]

heat could be killing it if you don't use the factory heat shields or atleast wrap the manny and o2 housing . i just relocated mine to the back since i don't have ac anyway

All is still well with the alt, I have about 1500 miles on it already of around town driving and its still going strong.

 

[boostedgst523]

Is this on the remanufactured alternator?