Cape T/A

I pulled my alternater off a few months back and had a local starter and alternater shop check it out and they said it's fine.

Well my car is doing this-
http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/b...CD1FC5FA8D.mp4

It does it at any RPM any speed any gear. After talking with several people they all said it seems like the alternater needs a new voltage regulator. So I pulled it off again and had that same shop put one in it. Well this video was taken an hour ago after I just put the alternater back on. I really need this fixed, the car is for sale and I'm not one to sell a car with issues.

So, I guess what I'm asking is do any of you know if there is anything else that can cause this? Or do I just need to find a new shop or buy a new alternator, as you can see mine only has 34k miles on it.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...-failures.html

read and study....there will be a test

Cape T/A

Well I don't have time to read all 33 pages of that. I made it to page 3 and saw 1 other person with a similar issue, but no answer to what fixes it.

The alternater isnt quitting on me, I've put 2000 miles on the car since it started doing this, but it's annoying and it causes all the lights to dim and brighten rapidly it's frustrating when driving at night.

Cape T/A

The car has an optima battery, it's probably 5 years old. I'm never witnessed an optima go bad, but I'm wondering if this could be an issue of the battery slowly dying, so I put my trickle charger on it and I guess I'll start the car tomorrow and see if it makes a difference. I cannot find any corrosion on any connectors or wires by the way.

GoodSpeed150

iTrader: (7)

I had the exact same problem in my car. I read the thread posted above, followed the information given and it fixed my problem.

The gist of the thread is:
-Buy a truck alternator from LKQ with the KG3 option
-Its a better design
-Lose the rear bracket
-Enjoy!

Cape T/A

Thank you! Thats what I was wanting to know (if it's a alternator issue or not). Now it's time for me to call my alternater shop and chew some ***.

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

It is an alternator issue - likely the voltage regulator inside. This part can be replaced by the shop.

BTW - The truck alternator "fix" doesn't work because its a magic bullet. Putting in any new alternator will do the trick. (Because it replaces the old one.)

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

^^ but i differ on that......the AD 244 is a better choice in alts than the stock CS130D

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

For some people, yes. But until someone figures out a way for a H.O. truck alternator to suck the same amount of power from the engine and achieve the same gas mileage as the stock unit, we can't say that its the best choice for everyone.

Cape T/A

Well I called the shop and they said that they did put a new regulator in the alternator..... So what else could be the problem. This alternater is my original one an only has 34k miles on it an has never had powersteering fluid on it either.

sjsingle1

iTrader: (1)

was it a china part? or a OEM part?

Cape T/A

I have no idea

wssix99

iTrader: (5)

The regulator they put in was probably a dud, then. There are different grades of parts and its possible to get a heavy duty regulator. (I suspect the one you got wasn't top of the line.)

Cape T/A

I guess I'll call them again tomorrow and see if they have an upgraded regulator.

Cape T/A

By the way, battery was fully charged when I got home and I started the car with the same results.

Cape T/A

Well my next step is I found a friend that is willing to let me borrow his alternater to narrow this problem down.

beyonddisturbed

iTrader: (5)

I have 244 alt + big 3 and optima redtop and never saw a mpg drop. still get 20 city and 30 hwy

89gmcs15

iTrader: (7)

i hard wired a old school external regulator into my (lq4) truck alternator. works good but only charges at 13.8 volts. it hasent given me any trouble yet and it looks cleaner only runnin 1 wire into the alternator rather than the harness and you cant really hate on a small box mounted to the firewall. easy and done. just a fyi

Cape T/A

Well a friend of mine let me use his alternator off his low milage 02 SS and putting his on pretty much stopped the problem. So now im going to have to see what I can get the shop that worked on mine to do about it.

Cape T/A

Oh ya, and to eliminate the battery as an issue I started the T/A off my wifes cobra (less than 1 year old) battery and then disconnected it and the car died immediatley, so I tried it again and when I took the wires off the battery the car ran long enough for me to get into the seat and then it died again.