alternator, battery, water pump?

[spita07]

My 97 Sonoma 4.3 died on me about a week ago. My volt meter had been low all night, so I thought alternator or battery. I had my battery charged and it starts up and runs. I took it for a short drive down the block and noticed it was starting to overheat so I went start home. I opened the hood and there was little to no coolant in the overflow resorvoir. I heard that maybe my water pump is leaking coolant onto my belt and that's why I was losing power before and why my coolant is low. Does this sound right to anyone or does anyone have advice or an opinion?

Thanks in advance.

[DelCoch]

With a grooved serpentine belt I doubt coolant leaking onto it would cause the alternator not to charge – but I guess anything is possible, maybe the belt needs replaced.

You need to find where the coolant is leaking. I would first check the weep hole on the bottom side of the water pump. After you get the leak taken care of, have the alternator and battery checked out at AutoZone, etc.

[spita07]

I just got some dexcool today and mixed it 50/50 and put it in her, with the engine hot. The engine was just starting to go over normal running temp and when I put it in it went back down to normal. I drove it a short distance and checked the coolant level again, it was really low again. So I repeated the procedure and after another short drive it was low again. I'm guessing I've got a pretty fast leak somewhere. As for the volts, they're still very low, almost to the red, but they weren't moving at all, they held steady at about 10.

[old_master]

Pressure test the cooling system to locate and then repair any leaks.

10 volts on the gauge and the red battery indicator lamp ON, means that the fuse for the voltage regulator is good and the alternator is not charging. The bolt-on terminal on the rear of the alternator has a red 10ga wire on it. It must have battery voltage at all times. The push-in type connector on the alternator has one wire in it. It should have battery voltage when the key is in the RUN position. If there is battery voltage at the red wire also, your alternator is faulty.