Car help- goddamn alternator(s)

M

Machine

Veteran XX
ok so friday my car is making a slight buzzing sound from the gauge cluster...below it really, next thing i know, im making a new friend, Mr Tow Truck driver. Turns out my alternator is dead. No sweat, i go out the next day, and get another one and we put it in the next day, car starts up and runs. Wait, let me back up a bit.

Since december my car has had an issue with the ignition, under WOT (at 4000 or above) or very low RPMs (well, below 2500) it would stutter (misfire i guess). Now, after the new alternator the stuttering was there, but worse...kind of felt like i was running on 2 cylinders instead of 4 (the previous stuttering made me feel like i was running on 3). Fast forward to tuesday..im driving to school and lose all throttle response at a redlight, somehow i manage to putter into the driveway at the turn, and next thing i know the car is dead.

So alternator #2 may be dead as well. The question is, could something in my car be doing this, i wasnt running anything stressful or out of the ordinary, no big stereo, no A/C, not even headlights.

SUMMARY
Is there anything in the car that can kill the alternator?
 
1993 240sx.

Theres also the possibility that somethings wrong with the ECU and its not telling the alternator to charge the battery...kind of doubt that..but its possible i guess
 
[OO]Machine said:
1993 240sx.

Theres also the possibility that somethings wrong with the ECU and its not telling the alternator to charge the battery...kind of doubt that..but its possible i guess
Click to expand...


not likely
 
test the battery, thats not hard.


Id check your spark plugs and possibly your plug cap. geezus i just forgot the name, but i had to replace mine. its the one all the spark plug wires come out of. That and the plug wires as well.

edit: distributor cap thats it
 
Used to be a bad Regulator could kill alternators pretty quick. But with these new-fangled, fancy-shmancy, compoootar controlled cars... dunno :shrug:
 
yea im stumped on this computer shit.

ive got an 82 volvo i can work on every single aspect of (and do). it has no computer so its so easy
 
[OO]Machine said:
1993 240sx.

Theres also the possibility that somethings wrong with the ECU and its not telling the alternator to charge the battery...kind of doubt that..but its possible i guess
Click to expand...

ok its defenitley not the computer.... we need more info. Will the car crank at all. Or is it completely juiced out.
 
well my computer needed replacing before, figured it was up for round 2.

If i hook my car up to a charger, and put a voltmeter on the battery itll go up to 14 volts or so...whatevers normal, then as soon as i take it off (while the car is running) the volts just drop steadily.
 
dunno, the end of the ground wire is an o ring that goes over the post on the alternator and locks down with a nut, dunno how it could be a bad connection :hrm:
 
Ok well, assuming psychosis is right is there any way it could be something small doing this? Like some relay in the dash? Or would it have to be something that draws a lot of power, like some part of the ignition system?

Reason i ask is that theres a motor swap available for my car, which comes with a completely new ignition and electrical system (aside from whats in the cabin)
 
On my 302 Maverick I once went through two batteries and one alternator before I realized my battery connectors were dirty on the inside. Bought a battery terminal cleaner and once every three months, when the battery would seem to no longer hold a charge, I'd clean the cables and be good to go for another three months.
 
Ok, UPDATE:


I go out and hook a voltmeter up to my car...it reads about 10 volts, so it wont even start, i hook my battery to my sisters and get my battery up to around 14, then start my car...remove the link between the two and my car stays at a steady 13.5 volts...i turn on the headlights and radio and defroster, gets me to 12.9 but its steady. Rev it a little...jumps up to 13-something and goes back down to 12.9...which seems typical, now i dont know wtf to do...unless it just "went away"
 
check for fusible link thats blown somewhere. sometimes the wires 'feel' good, but inside, its broken. only way to really tell, is start somewhere(like work yourway from battery) working yer way to the alternator, starter, and eventually igition.

***edit*** i use ohm meter to check for continuity. im old school, how my dad showed me.
 
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