blkchevyz

gxp doesnt seem to want to charge at idle. i can watch the gauge slowly drop down to the 11s...but once i'm driving around its fine.
besides the obvious alternator, anything else i should look for?

Barnett92

iTrader: (1)

Does it throw any codes on you?? Check to see if it holds a charge with the key on the on position, but not started. If it still drains without the engine running then check each fuse individually with a fluke meter. I think as you drive the car your rpms will keep it charged. May just be your alternator as well. Good luck!

blkchevyz

no codes.
i'll give that a try and see if it drains while its not running.
thanks

blkchevyz

funny its not doing it today.

blkchevyz

whats your cars normally sit at once its warm for voltage? mine has been all over the place, but lately its been right at 14.4... and that seems a little high to me. i though it would always be around 13.5

Spade

iTrader: (26)

Battery is probably going bad. Mine did this for awhile as well and gave me some charging problems at idle, would even go into battery saver while cruising every now and then. Changed the battery and fixed the problem.

blkchevyz

actually it started when i changed the battery. maybe i got a bad one.

Spade

iTrader: (26)

Its very well possible. That has happened to me before with a motorcycle battery.

blkchevyz

it was up to 15.5 yesterday lol

if it is the battery can they tell by testing it? i got it at a shop and i know they will try and tell me its the alternator and make me replace that before they replace the battery.

blkchevyz

well it ended up being the alternator it started doing it really bad yesterday, then it just stopped charging. luckly made it home on the battery lol

i'd love to have a talk with the person who decided to put the tentioner down under the car right next to the frame rail... really shouldnt have to take a wheel off and inner fender cover to change loosen a belt.

but with that said i did figure out a pretty easy way to do it, once you remove the wheel and splash cover i took a the tool you normally use to remove clips from your interior and used it as a pry bar against the top of the tensioner spring. was able to pry on it enough to be able to reach up and slide it off the ac compressor.

blkchevyz

its starting to do it again... it popped and said charging system failure once, but hasnt since. again i can watch it go from lows 12s to high 15s.

baltsk8er69

iTrader: (1)

Mine did that and I put an alternator on it and voila.

baltsk8er69

iTrader: (1)

Take it to an autozone and have them test to make sure its not a bad alternator.remans can be bad out of the box.

LeadfootDuramax

iTrader: (6)

If it's just an auto parts store alternator, I wouldn't be surprised at all. I am tired of changing junk alternators and have started going to a local alternator rebuilding shop and have them do it right.

blkchevyz

of course i take it to get tested and its not doing it, but Orileys said they will swap it out... they said the power regulator sounded like it was going out...
not really looking forward to this again, damn tentioner is a pain

baltsk8er69

iTrader: (1)

I loosen up the alternator til the belt slides off then when I'm done I reroute every pully except the idler at the very front and use a flathead to pry it on. Takes me 1 minute tops, I've had it off so many times.

blkchevyz

cool i'll have to try that. thanks.

GXP25

iTrader: (3)

I've been having this problem the past month or so. "Charging System Failure," "Battery Saver Active." It would get so bad that the charging error would keep coming up back to back as the voltage would constantly get below 11-10 volts. Then it became normal again all of a sudden.

I've been monitoring my battery for the past two weeks and it has been doing good (13.5-14.2 volt range) except today it looked unusually low (12v range). The battery is less than two months old so I'm pretty sure it's the alternator.

The guy at O'reilly's said that they have a belt tensioner kit for ~$30-$40 (to be rented) and claims it'll fit our vehicles. I'll try it when the failure starts to come up again and I decide to replace the alternator.

136k+ miles on the original alternator in a GM vehicle is borrowed time really.

blkchevyz

yeah mine did that for a few month the 1st time before it actually failed completely.

funny mine was 15 the whole way to work today. i'm sure thats great on the battery

Ill_Born_ss

Here is something directly related to your symptoms.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/ls4-perfo...l#post17510500

scroll down and read about the CURRENT SENSOR

I will see if I can find the TSB