at-jefft

the rents said no on the battery from the taurus(taking it in tomorrow for trade in assessment). Would a trickle charger work?(gotta get one anyways for the winter)

snwbrderphat540

not if the battery is at the point where its toast and just drains power instead of holding power. and just steal the battery for tonight and see if it dies again if not stick teh bat back in the taurus and wala u know the problem.

at-jefft

umm... ya wish it was that simple. my dad is kinda car-challenged and thinks that we are gonna end up with 2 batteries fried.(he is not a big fan of the z if you can't tell) I will see what I can do about borrowing a good battery from either a friend or my school.

snwbrderphat540

go buy a cheap battery then like now at a meijer or something...

at-jefft

ya, I will see what I can do, I may be able to get one from a friend or my school, saving me a good deal of cash.

snwbrderphat540

did u try running it now and see if it charges up and stays running? or did u just take the measurement and turn it off? cause if u managed to hook up an alt wrong im sure you could be messing up the readings as well lol.

at-jefft

yes, I ran it after I switched the negative to the screw. that is when the voltages dropped from 12 to 10.4 while idling @ 1700 rpm.

umm... as for my special ed-ness with the volt meter I think I got it right. (followed the directions that came with the multimeter just to be sure)

NismoPick

So... either a wire is fried somewhere (reducing / inhibiting electrical flow), or the alternator isn't putting out the correct voltage.

Was the car charging "okay" before the whole "zap - ka-pow!" wiring incident?

at-jefft

it was charging alright, it was not 100% but I put 3k miles on it with out a problem.

duowing

with the car off, let it sit for a few hours and test the voltage across the battery terminals let us know what it is.

at-jefft

alright, I will. just curious but, what will this test tell me/you?

duowing

this way you can see what kind of charge the battery has on it. Then you can get an idea of whether it's dead or not. You still won't know for sure as we can't test the cranking amps, but if the voltage is really low then there's a good chance it's about dead, if it's higher and just not enough to get the car started then it's probably an ok battery.

at-jefft

11.7v I haven't touched it since last night.

PS(New cobalt today! traded in the taurus.)

duowing

hmm 11.7 sounds like a battery that just isn't being charged well enough. I'd say your battery then is fine and isn't killing the alternator. So you have to go through your alternator wiring or you just keep getting bad alts.

snwbrderphat540

true dat.... if you put the multimeter across the terminals where you hooked up those wires the positive to the positive and the negative to the negative your not getting any readings? and the alternator is spinning right? cause if its spinning it should make a charger no matter what....

at-jefft

EDIT: ya I put the + probe to the + alt terminal and the - probe to the - alt terminal and I got the same voltage of the battery at the time.


AHHHH soooo frusterated! All the tests I did show the alt is good and the wires are good. you guys think the battery is ok, what else could be????

snwbrderphat540

wait... how was teh test showing the alt was good? you said it wasnt reading voltage when you tested it using your multimeter...


for ***** and giggles can you post up another pic of how its hooked up now? and also the fusible link you made like it actually in place how it all sits as of right now....

chop chop dont make me come over there.

at-jefft

how do you want me to test if the alt is good? I have never had problems getting the mulitmeter to give me a reading. do you want me to test something again?

Pics up in 5min... hold your horses(go look at the booze thread for another 5min)

at-jefft

the alternator(negative connected to the screw now)

the link(it is looped because it is a bit long) I tested(previous post) it a both terminals and it registers the same voltage as the battery.

snwbrderphat540

mhmm.... that other ground wire (i think) that is in that loom for the alternator that bolts to the block, did you ever touch it by chance? also that plug on the alternator the one with the two wires in it looks like it should plug deeper into the alternator based on the discoloration or it in the one spot, try that out also check to see if plugs inside it/the alternator are bent or something k?

at-jefft

ground wire? I don't think it has moved, I have tried not to even bump it.

I have tried to push it in further, It is in as far as possible.

let me make sure there is contact with the t-connector

at-jefft

ya the t-connector is in there pretty snug. I checked again and it won't go in any farther.

snwbrderphat540

sigh.... really, i can bring some electrical stuff out there and try to figure it out with you if you want. i'll just murder you afterward.... lol. assuming you've done everything else correctly then that alt must be dead to.....

at-jefft

sounds good. I obviously can't figure it out.

SNW: how would you recommend testing to see if the alt is putting out?(probes go where) you didn't like the way I explained that I did it





I could try grounding the positive wire again!

snwbrderphat540

i wouldn't recommend that last idea.... lol. well honestly i want to re-check the continuity, use a multimeter i know is working and i am using correctly and then see whats up. or do you have a passport radar detector? you can plug it into your cigarette lighter outlet in the car and get a volts reading lol.


i do have another idea, i dont know if it will make a difference but its worth a shot, set the multimetere to the 12v setting place the positive probe on the positive terminal of the alternator and the negative one to the chassis, a clean spot on the chassis so you know you have a good ground and see what it reads WHILE TEH CAR IS RUNNING!!!!! you cant try to see if the alt is putting out amps unless its running lol i seriously hope you had the car started and running everytime you tried to get a volts reading........ if not ima punch yo face