Battery problem not solved...

[alanizgod]

Sorry guys I thought it had to do with my amp install but the light is back on again. I took my car to Sears to get the battery checked (I had to push start my car to get there) and the battery was completely dead (explaining why the car wouldn't turn on, duh). They said it had an electrical problem, and if it was the alternator the computer would have said so. I don't really have much of a choice but to get the system tested, but what I don't understand is why the light comes on sometimes and off. It doesn't make sense to me...and I don't think it's the alternator otherwise I wouldn't have been able to push start it. I had even unplugged all of my amplifiers before getting the battery checked and left them unplugged and I'm still getting the same problem....

EDIT: I smacked the alternator with a wrench because I was pissed off and now the light is out. Hehe well I heard that a way to test the alternator is to have the car on and smacking it with a screwdriver...and if the light goes off it's an alternator problem.

[russiankid]

Is this fuel injected engine or carb'd? Get the alternator tested. It should put out 14-14.5 volts. If lower than 14volts then you need to replace it.

[LX-incredible]

Sounds like the brushes have gone on it.

[dalinxz]

Im guessing its the brushes too which would lead it to work when you tapped it, otherwise the wires may be bad. Check the B+ line its the line thats screwed on with a nut and make sure it work perfectly, then look in the fuse under the dash at the fuses ACGS and the Battery fuse, either one and just make sure it's all good. Otherwise I'm out of ideas?

[LX-incredible]

Im guessing its the brushes too which would lead it to work when you tapped it, otherwise the wires may be bad. Check the B+ line its the line thats screwed on with a nut and make sure it work perfectly, then look in the fuse under the dash at the fuses ACGS and the Battery fuse, either one and just make sure it's all good. Otherwise I'm out of ideas?

Those fuses are in the under-hood box. It's the brushes. Spin the alt by hand, you will hear a slight grinding noise, that's the brush springs grinding on the rotor.

[dalinxz]

well he says that it was checked so if the mechanic checked it right then he would have just checked the voltage so maybe the brushes are low, our cars have 2 brushes right. Hopefully you can take it out and change the brushes but if not I have an alternator if you want. $50+shipping, works 100% took it from my parts car its a rebuilt one from 2004 works great

[LX-incredible]

If it was checked when the remains of the brushes/springs were making contact, it would of tested good. You can replace the brushes and springs, but if the contacts on the rotor are worn unevenly, you will need to sand and polish. If you plan on keeping your car, don't replace with a discount auto store one. Get one remanufactured by Denso, the company that made them originally. Discount brands only replace stuff like brushes, Denso replaces everything, because they have have everything. There is also some 135 amp ones on ebay now for like $130 shipped.

[Blkblurr]

My guess is that your amp is taking more power than the alt can provide thereby draining your battery to make up the diff. Now that you changed the wires to a larger guage it makes the problem worse. It will make the sound system sound better and it is the correct thing to do for the amp but has nothing to do with solving your battery problem. I think a new battery will do the same thing but take a little longer to show up due to having a better charge. If your amp is requiring more power than the alt can provide you either need to change the amp or put a larger capacity alt in the car.

[alanizgod]

The car is FI. My guess would have been the brushes as well....today the light didn't come on at all whatsoever. If worse comes to worse and it comes back on I may as well just replace the whole thing instead of just the brushes ( and buy a stronger alternator while I'm at it). I checked all the fuses and they're all fine, and when I had the battery tested the alternator didn't come up as the problem ( I still don't know what it is, but the alternator wasn't part of the problem according to them). Some people have told me that the other culprit may be the starter but I dunno.

[alanizgod]

My guess is that your amp is taking more power than the alt can provide thereby draining your battery to make up the diff. Now that you changed the wires to a larger guage it makes the problem worse. It will make the sound system sound better and it is the correct thing to do for the amp but has nothing to do with solving your battery problem. I think a new battery will do the same thing but take a little longer to show up due to having a better charge. If your amp is requiring more power than the alt can provide you either need to change the amp or put a larger capacity alt in the car.

I took that into consideration too, but I had my amps unplugged and the problem still persisted. I'm probably going to need a better alternator regardless so I might just change it out anyway.

[LX-incredible]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/86-89...QQcmdZViewItem

[alanizgod]

What's the stock alternator amps?

[LX-incredible]

65

[alanizgod]

Cool I'll probably buy one of those. I'm not very educated on electrical jibba jabba but will that alternator hold up about 800 RMS with a 1 Farad capacitor?

[LX-incredible]

I would assume so, the output is double that of a stock unit.