i have a 93 toyota paseo. Oddly, it drove fine one night then the next day the car died while i was driving it. I got a jump start and barely made it where I was going. I decided to get a new battery because the battery light and brake and brake light were on. The car died again on the way to wall-mart to get a new battery. I got a new battery and I drove about 20 miles and my headlights were getting dim and the battery and brake lights came on again. Of course the battery died and I was stranded and had to be towed back home. I got a voltmeter and with the engine running the alternator was putting out about 10v. So I bought a new alternator from checker and nothing changed. The battery still dies the new alternator is putting out the same 10v and when you drive the car it eventually bogs down and dies. What is going on. What else could it be? Sorry I think im at the end of my rope with this car.
Let's do some testing, unplug the alternator and use the voltmeter to check the three wires. In 'off' mode one wire should show battery voltage, the other two dead. In 'run' mode all three should have battery voltage or very near. Also test the main wire on alternator in 'off' mode. It should show battery voltage. You should find something wrong in these tests. Let us know exactly the outcome.
ok so i did it I got battery on the right lead when the car was off and I got battery on all three leads when i had the key in the on position. While the car was running I checked the alternator which was putting out the same old 10v. So I turned on the ac and the headlights and it was slowly dropping in volts from 10v down to 8 where it died. Any thoughts?
I had both my new and old alternators tested today and they both checked out fine. The belt looks a little crappy but i don't think its the problem. Is there an in-line fuse off of the alternator or would our previous testing have ruled out any wiring malfunction?
The tests pretty much did that. Having battery power at the main wire on back of alternator while off said the fuse is good. If the alternators truly are good then maybe you should replace the belt and make sure it's tight enough. Don't overtighten, but make sure it's tight enough you can't make the alternator slip.
is it possible that the belt could be slipping without me hearing it? Not that it matters because im going to replace that belt anyway. I am just wondering.
While the car is running, rev the engine to see if the voltage gets higher. This happened to me on my old Camry, and it turned out to be a headlight fuse that was causing the problem, once it was replaced the electrical system worked fine.
Yes it can, if it has been slipping the pulley will be quite hot.
Now that is a neat test. A new one for me.
Presumably though, the belt could either be slipping on the alternator pulley (in which case the alternator pulley will be hot), or it could be slipping on the crankshaft pulley (in which case the crankshaft pulley will be hot). Is that correct? But in either case, the belt itself would be hot (and hotter than the other belt for the power steering)? Is that correct?
Problem solved I replaced the belt and I also replaced the battery ground wire as it looked pretty rusted and corroded. Now the alternator is charging the battery and I can drive the car.
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