Other Technical Discussions A place for technical discussions NOT related to Porsche or BMW. Other makes, home DIY, etc. |
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#1
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Charging Issue
How are you testing batteries?
Long standing issue I can get my head around. ~2004 Acura tsx. One day charging light comes on and it wipes out the battery. I put in new battery and alternator (reman). ~14v running, case closed. Then the charging light starts to flicker a month or so later. Light comes on occasionally for a second, maybe 2, sometimes. I test the battery and it comes back charge. Rinse repeat. I've tested voltage when running hot and cold, everytime ~14v. The main power harness had some corrosion, so I replaced it, new from alt to battery to fuse panel. What a fun job. So, how can I test the battery and charging system correctly? This should be simple but ..... intermittent alternator output? Just always reads right voltage when I test it? Failing battery? thank for any ideas I've used a version of this for lots of jobs and its been a simple, easy tool thats never failed me, until now.
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78 SC, the 'Red Car' |
#2
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You might try a Cigarette Lighter Voltage Meter so you can watch the charge voltage as you drive the car in different conditions. I see Walmart has one for $8. It might give you some insight.
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87 "Turbo-Look" Cabriolet |
#3
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FWIW.
Are the battery connections side post connections? If so, a very annoying problem I once had an earlier truck was that the crush washer on each connector compressed enough after several battery changes, that the bolt holding the cable to the battery bottomed out, and cracked the battery case at the bottom of the threaded hole. The resulting battery acid would slowly leak out and penetrate into the main battery cable(s), casing corrosion of the internal copper, that you couldn't readily see until you peeled back the insulation. The corrosion on the copper causes increased resistance, which interferes with the battery's operation and charging. I ended up having to replace the POSITIVE cable.
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- Tony P. Currently - 1984 944 SP2 racer - 1977 911 KM Special vintage racer - 2012 Cayman R (also the wife's) - 2000 Boxster S (now mine) - 1995 993 (garage queen) - 2007 Cayman S (wife's track beast) - 2017 F350 (tow monster) - 2018 Jeep Wrangler Gone but not forgotten - 1989 944S2 - 1979 RX7 - 1986 944 - 1991 944S2 (in car heaven...) - 2001 Chevy Suburban 2500 (FIL's beast now) |
#4
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Thanks, good ideas. I ordered a voltage cig lighter thing.
Top post battery, but might be worth looking at. Post on new battery was pretty thin so I added a shim. Both sides are clean. Cables are new.
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78 SC, the 'Red Car' |
#5
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Good call on the gauge. Normal operation was ~14.1v for ~20. Then it dropped to ~12.3v and didnt go back up until the car was restarted after work. Then it was back up to 14.1v for ~45min. Seems like a failing alternator to me.
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78 SC, the 'Red Car' |
#6
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Same symptoms with the reman? Hmm....I might follow through the B+ / sensor line if it has one. The alt might not be able to see the control voltage.
You mentioned some crunchy connectors.
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http://vimeo.com/29896988 “Those that can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire. "There is grandeur in this view of life...." Darwin. The mountains are calling and I must go. “The earth has music for those who listen” Shakespeare. You Matter. (Until you multiply yourself times the speed of light squared. Then you Energy) “We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence’. |
#7
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I'll throw this out there for consideration too. Just because it's new doesn't mean it works. One of our service trucks went through three re-manufactured alternators before our mechanics found one that was good. Workmanship and QC on some of this stuff is non-existent. Taking the alternator to a specialty shop and having them spin it up under load is the best way to eliminate the alternator as a possible cause.
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Steve Potomac PCA Co-CI(retired) 89 944 Turbo Race car 85.5 944 NA son's 2015/2019/2020 944Cup and PCA Nat'l Champ racecar 94 968 1 of 11 Iris blue coupes 92 968 1 of 2 Tahoe Blue Cabriolets 98 993 C2S w/Aerokit II 77 911S Vintage race car project 70 Boss 302 86 Mustang SVO 08 F250 SD Diesel 15 Audi SQ5 "Noel spun! Noel spun! Don't do anything stupid, Dad." -the boy on the radio on the last lap of NASA race as the second place car spins behind me in T5 at Summit Point. |
#8
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Quote:
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- Tony P. Currently - 1984 944 SP2 racer - 1977 911 KM Special vintage racer - 2012 Cayman R (also the wife's) - 2000 Boxster S (now mine) - 1995 993 (garage queen) - 2007 Cayman S (wife's track beast) - 2017 F350 (tow monster) - 2018 Jeep Wrangler Gone but not forgotten - 1989 944S2 - 1979 RX7 - 1986 944 - 1991 944S2 (in car heaven...) - 2001 Chevy Suburban 2500 (FIL's beast now) |
#9
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Quote:
Good format testing will reveal the truth in the car or not. Testing for things like excess AC and the like can reveal alt internal issues. Testing for load response can reveal outside the alt charging issues. Way back in the day I had a drinking bud that was deep in Precision Alternator co in VA. He admitted that a large # of alt cores they got from shops, dealers and DIY passed load testing. So many they had a color code for them.
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http://vimeo.com/29896988 “Those that can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire. "There is grandeur in this view of life...." Darwin. The mountains are calling and I must go. “The earth has music for those who listen” Shakespeare. You Matter. (Until you multiply yourself times the speed of light squared. Then you Energy) “We’ve got lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence’. |
#10
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Thanks for the input, much appreciated. I testing with some load but only blower and lights, good idea about seat heat.
I swapped the harness from the alt to bat to fuse panel, no more crunchy connections! Years ago I took a SC alt to Advanced or Autozone. The poor guy freaked out and didnt know how to setup the machine. I brought back the alt in the fan housing, he was still freaked out but was able to test. I forgot all about them, need to check if they still have the machine. The really tough/frustrating part has been it always worked fine when I checked it!
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78 SC, the 'Red Car' |
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