alternator failure?

Ryan S · Jan 20, 2011

i own a 03 sprinter 2500 and had to put a alternator in it when i bought it 5 months ago, driving around town i've noticed the lights dimming once in a while and the battery light flashed tonight, i had a voltage guage installed and didn't notice any drop in voltage, charges between 15 and 16, but i'm worried that this alternator is on it's way out as well, i'm going to check the battery terminals in the morning and HOPEFULLY they are loose or corroded but i'm kinda doubting that to be the case, has anybody else gone through alternators with every oil change??

mendonsy · Jan 20, 2011

If your gauge is still reading normal it is probably not the alternator. Much more likely to be a bad connection. :2cents:

WAYNERODD · Jan 20, 2011

Ryan S said:
has anybody else gone through alternators with every oil change??

Ryan alternators tend to last a very long time. I have seen several well past 400,000.

If they are burning up that fast you may have too much of a load on it.

Are you running extra batteries? Maybe a inverter?

If not I bet that you would have a bad connection some where.

Try looking in the black box that is attached to the positive battery terminal. As you are facing the black box with the cover removed, the first fuse to left is the one for the alternator, it should have a 200 amp fuse in it.

Ryan S · Jan 20, 2011

good to know, thankyou sir!! i'll check that out in the morning when i have some light to dig into it, there is no inverter or extra draw on the alternator

WAYNERODD said:
Ryan alternators tend to last a very long time. I have seen several well past 400,000.

If they are burning up that fast you may have too much of a load on it.

Are you running extra batteries? Maybe a inverter?

If not I bet that you would have a bad connection some where.

Try looking in the black box that is attached to the positive battery terminal. As you are facing the black box with the cover removed, the first fuse to left is the one for the alternator, it should have a 200 amp fuse in it.

220629 · Jan 20, 2011

WAYNERODD said:
...
Try looking in the black box that is attached to the positive battery terminal. As you are facing the black box with the cover removed, the first fuse to left is the one for the alternator, it should have a 200 amp fuse in it.

Ryan,
It might look a little like this sketch I just threw together to help Wayne's description. :tongue:

vic

P.S. - If your replacement alternator is a rebuilt unit they are sometimes not so reliable as a brand new unit. Not all rebuilds are resurrected as equals.

Gulf SV · Jan 20, 2011

Aqua Puttana said:
Ryan,
It might look a little like this sketch I just threw together to help Wayne's description. vic

Nice job on the sketch, Vic. Did you use a ruler? :lol:

scubanw3 · Jan 20, 2011

If your alternator is really charging 15 to 16, I assume you mean volts and this would be too high! Low volt out put and high volt out put failures can be similar. If you mean 15-16 amps, then that would be a different story. Hope this helps.

Thank you, John
Sprinter Store
http://sprinterstore.com/
A division of Upscale Automotive, Inc.
19460 SW 89th Ave.
Tualatin, OR 97062
503-692-0846

Ryan S · Jan 20, 2011

it's charging in amps, i checked those fuses, they all look fine, the battery connections look fine as well?? i just don't want to get going down the highway and have problems, THEN have a tow bill.....

WAYNERODD · Jan 20, 2011

Ryan, Most auto parts will load test your battery & alternator for free.

If I were you I would take your van and get it tested.

Also the connections at the alternator should be looked at.

WAYNERODD · Jan 20, 2011

For what it is worth. I just checked the charging voltage on my 2004 and it is 14.5 volts with the headlights on.

d_bertko · Jan 20, 2011

WAYNERODD said:
For what it is worth. I just checked the charging voltage on my 2004 and it is 14.5 volts with the headlights on.

This is what I'd expect too.

Are you using a really cheapo meter? Otherwise sounds like you're cooking your battery.

Dan

WAYNERODD · Jan 20, 2011

d_bertko said:
Are you using a really cheapo meter? Otherwise sounds like you're cooking your battery.

No cheap meter. Batteries always charge at a higher voltage.

Going back a several years ago it was not uncommon for the charge voltage to be 14-18 volts on a 12 volt battery.

220629 · Jan 20, 2011

WAYNERODD said:
No cheap meter. Batteries always charge at a higher voltage.

I had to read Dan's response twice to understand. Maybe this will help.

d_bertko said:
Yes Wayne This is what I'd expect too.

Ryan S,
Are you using a really cheapo meter? Otherwise sounds like you're cooking your battery.

Dan

WAYNERODD said:
Going back several years ago it was not uncommon for the charge voltage to be 14-18 volts on a 12 volt battery.

You're showing your age, or your vast experience. Those higher voltages haven't really been true since mechanical voltage regulators went away. vic

d_bertko · Jan 20, 2011

Eh, my bad to not clearly direct that cooking statement to the OP.

Thanks, Vic, for the read-it-twice comment.

icarus · Jan 20, 2011

According to: http://www.batteryfaq.org/
the absorb charge voltage (normal recharging voltage) for a FLA (wet cell battery) should be ~14.4 volts. Float voltage (full battery) should be ~ 13.2 volts.

If one is seeing voltages above 14.4 or so you are going to cook the battery, (especially if the battery is hot! Hot battery float voltages should be somewhat lower. Good 3 or 4 stage charges are equipped with battery temperature monitors to dial down the voltage as the temp increases)

220629 · Jan 20, 2011

d_bertko said:
...
Thanks, Vic, for the read-it-twice comment.

Dan,
No problem. I've certainly been less than precise with my responses many times. I really can't figure out why people don't understand each and every one of my posts completely. They make perfect sense to me as I'm composing them.

vic

WAYNERODD · Jan 20, 2011

Aqua Puttana said:
They make perfect sense to me as I'm composing them./QUOTE]

WAYNERODD · Jan 20, 2011

Aqua Puttana said:
You're showing your age, or your vast experinece. Those higher voltages haven't really been true since mechanical voltage regulators went away./QUOTE]

Not that old yet! Just got to work on alot of old stuff.

220629 · Jan 20, 2011

WAYNERODD said:
...
Not that old yet! Just got to work on alot of old stuff.

That's why I gave you the "vast experience" escape clause. :cheers:

vic

P.s. - FWIW. It drove me crazy once trying to figure out why the quote box wasn't working. I learned if you don't end the copied quote with a bracketed "/QUOTE" the other color blue box never stops. (I can't show the brackets with "/QUOTE" or I think it will mess up the boxes here.)To add more doo-doo to the game, when you copy and paste up to that bracketed "/QUOTE", it always seems to drag the left side bracket [ with it.

Ryan S · Jan 20, 2011

edit: i just double checked my gauge, it IS reading in volts, holds steady right at 15, the battery light flickers on for a second about a mile down the road and then it's fine, is this a sign that the battery is taking a ****? that too was just replaced when i put the alternator in it

alternator failure?

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