overcharging

[cips8404]

just want to start of and say i hope everybody loves their aurora as much as i do. Ok one day my alternator died so i bught a rebuilt one $160 any way i put it in and im at 19 volts i turn everything on and it goes down to like 15 16 volts so then i hit the gas and it shots up to 19 volts again and all my lights my stereo turn off until the volts go back down. so i figured the alternator was defective so i returned it and got another one not to much they have to be speacial ordered so i have to wait a week. So i got the new one and it does the same thing so think i have a different problem so if any one has any advice on what they think it is i would apprecite it i am in to this car to much to just give up now over something so small

[Indy8]

Are fuses blowing? If not, run it as is.

[maxwedge]

Originally Posted by cips8404

just want to start of and say i hope everybody loves their aurora as much as i do. Ok one day my alternator died so i bught a rebuilt one $160 any way i put it in and im at 19 volts i turn everything on and it goes down to like 15 16 volts so then i hit the gas and it shots up to 19 volts again and all my lights my stereo turn off until the volts go back down. so i figured the alternator was defective so i returned it and got another one not to much they have to be speacial ordered so i have to wait a week. So i got the new one and it does the same thing so think i have a different problem so if any one has any advice on what they think it is i would apprecite it i am in to this car to much to just give up now over something so small

Get a known good voltmeter on it and check if in fact you have 19v, if so stop and get this looked at asap.

[cips8404]

i would run it as is but i wouldnt be able to drive it a night because once the volts get to high my head lights and dash lights etc shuts down i hope this isnt a wiring problem because i have been working on this car for months and it seems like a wiring nightmare. oh yea i do have fuses blowing well a fuse under the back seat it is an elc fuse but i have no idea what it does

[apollo7879]

You would think the voltage regulator in the generatior would be the fault, but since you have replaced it thats obviously not the problem.

The battery thermistor circuit plays a roll in controlling the voltage it might be worth looking into. There is a 10 amp fuse in the RH rear fuse block #1,for this thermistor, if this is the fuse thats blowing you might want to check the thermistor. Seems like a long shot but can't hurt to check it out.

[cips8404]

does anybody know where i can get some pictures of the engine or even a wiring diagram if any body can help me out that would be great i have a couple of grounds and other things i wanna check out

[mbreitba]

Originally Posted by cips8404

does anybody know where i can get some pictures of the engine or even a wiring diagram if any body can help me out that would be great i have a couple of grounds and other things i wanna check out

I would first pull the alternator and take it to an o'rileys, autozone, etc. Have them test it out (most places test for free). If you are in fact running 19 volts, you're probably running on the ragged edge of blowing out a bunch of stuff (lights, radio, computer, etc). That's more than 50% over the "12V" that your car operates on, and a 31% increase over the 14.4 volts that is considered "normal" for operating voltages in the automotive world.

[kiway22]

They have auto electric shops, that repairs problems connected with the electrical systems in cars. In the phonebook(yellow pages), look for Automobile Electric Svce(service).

[ryan351w]

Ok my alternator died also so i put on a new one, and it went right up to 17v and sometimes 19v. Then I put on a Remi. very good alt. and it works fine...that being said if you put the alt on and the battery wasn't fully charged than as soon as you fired the motor you fried the voltage reg in the alt. Thats exactly what happened to mine. But I do suggest a good alt like the remi.

[aarcuda]

17 or 19v seems WAY to high to me and should destroy your battery in a short time (warp the plates inside and overheat it causing it to burst)

I wouldnt run it like that.

plus, all the computer controls and sensors will be over juiced and could either burn out or report the wrong readings causing bad stuff to happen.

just because you have a new or rebuilt alt, doesnt mean its good (have you seen the nimrods that do the rebuilding on these???)

sounds like the voltage regulator is fried. soon, so will the rest of your electronics.

[Chuckk1]

I'm not alone! I had a remanufactured alternator put in my '98 about 3 years ago. Soon after, I started seeing the charge indicator lighting up periodically, even when the indicated charge voltage was at 14v or more. When the outside air temp dropped into the 50's (I'm in S. Florida) the indicated voltage would be at 12, telling me that the battery was not being charged. After about 5 minutes, the voltage would climb up to the normal 14 - 15...UNLESS it was VERY cold out. One night when it was in the low 40's, it took an hour to start charging. After about a year, the charge light stayed on all the time. Occasionally, I'd get that 'flickering' (headlights, dashlights), and sometimes the voltage would drop down to 12 after a long high speed run, then come back up to normal several seconds later. Then I started to see 'spikes' up to and over 17 volts. These were only momentary. The highest I ever saw was 19. My shop guy told me that the voltage regulator was inside that alternator and causing the trouble. He suggested installing a separate external regulator and bypassing the existing. Well, this past weekend, the regulator finally let go...blew two diodes and melted a connector. My guy installed another alternator, then called me to tell me that it was outputting a constant 18v and that was going to ultimately do some damage. He said something about running a separate wire direct from battery to alternator, like they do on some airboats (?) Comments, anyone?

[aarcuda]

How did you install an external voltage regulator. The voltage regulator works by sensing the output voltage and ajusting the field strength inside the alternator. Did you install a surge suppressor instead. that would sense the output voltage and regulate the voltage below some maximum. But it wouldnt actually regulate the output to some constant voltage like 14v- it would only stop it from going over some maximum.

So what happened is the alternator probably got up to 19v or whatever and fried the lines.

you need a new alternator or, if its separably replaceable, the voltage regulator in the alternator

[BNaylor]

Sorry but please check the date and do not resurrect old threads by posting in them. Thread closed.

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