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Old 08-07-2009, 06:31 AM
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shorod shorod is offline
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Re: Replace an alternator ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by nub View Post
A way to test the alternator is to start the car and unplug your battery. Then turn on the radio, lights, and see what happens.
That test was done a lot many years ago, but is not a wise test for a modern vehicle. The alternator actually produces an Alternating Current (AC) signal which is rectified then filtered by the battery. The rectified AC by itself is quite noisy, and this noise can wreak havoc on the computers in the modern car's electrical systems.

-Rod
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