r2doesinc

Or maybe not charging fast enough. Either way, I can watch the volts drop while the car is idling.

Got the car back from the local z specialist after all the other crap, and the car is finally running again. Unfortunately, it doesnt run for long. I've used the multimeter to watch the voltage drop - 0.01/2-5 seconds - so "clearly" the issue is the alternator.

New alternator showed up today. Swapped it in and no change
Took the new one and the old one in and had them tested, both are fine!

I connected the alternator battery post directly to the pos battery terminal as some tests mentioned, and no change.

Revving the engine actually causes the voltage to drop - though once or twice i saw it spike to 14v, wtf?!

I will admit that the v belt is pretty loose - squealing too bad for me to feel comfortable driving. I dont want to be the guy everyone stares at because their car sounds like ****. Unfortunately, I dont have a 1 inch socket to get the main belt off so that i can replace the v belt as well, but that will all be taken care of tomorrow after work.

I do understand that the loose v belt could be causing the alt not to charge too well, but would it really cause it to totally fail? I will have another update tomorrow after swapping the belts, but im not confident that a loose belt could cause the alternator to not charge the battery at all. The only thing that makes me hold onto my hope that the belt is the issue is the fact that I have occasionally seen the 14v that Im expecting. Maybe those few moments i saw it, the belt was sticking perfectly. idfk

I have been making a lot of progress on restoring this car. When there is juice, the car runs beautifully. I have been driving to work and a few errands with the car, just ensuring its hooked up to the trickle charge as soon as i get home. If it could just keep its damn charge, the car would be next to perfect.

r2doesinc

Oh man. I really need to stop overthinking things.

New belts on, no slack, 14v as soon as its cranked.

My baby is finally solid. Im so happy!

zxguy1986

When I saw this, I said to myself.. r2does will read this in his own post and suddenly get it! Good job r2does! Don't forget to thank r2does...

r2doesinc

What threw me off is that the belt originally didnt squeal at all, and was working fine. Then out of nowhere the car just stopped charging.

I knew that a loose belt could cause issues, but i didnt realize even a slightly loose belt could cause this big of a problem.

Cranked those suckers down nice and tight this time around - the tensioner system on this car is super funky btw - and im back to normal.

Now i need to work on my ac and heat. My heater core is completely missing, the hose just goes into the engine bay, then doubles back into the cabin.

And dont even get me started on the AC.

r2doesinc

Also, totally didnt need a 1in socket for that. I was misunderstanding how to loosen the belts, but i had to speial order the v belt anyways, so i still needed to make my extra trip to the store

zxguy1986

You done good, dude. Keep that baby on the road!