New thread To describe this weird idle

[beco2326]

Ok had a erratic idle at start. after a bit it would go away... well i didn't have any money to do anything about it. so i had to run it anyways. well, about a month later the alt started winning , no problems of starting but it was loud as heck.. well while this was going on , the idle problem, went away... weird i know... so then i finally get 100 bucks to go change the alt. in an autozone parking lot. 20 min later all fixed... well, the next morning i start the car , crazy idle... manage to get to work and back. the idle problem went away , and my battery light is on.. so i go to auto zone and they test the battery, charging , and it checks out ok . then only thing was running it was at 12.50-12.75 v. not great but not bad .... im soo lost though...

[sly]

check the charge cable connections. if the alt light is coming on, something is loose or the alternator is flaky.

[gadget73]

12.5 volts is not charging. it should be at least 13.5. Sounds like the alternator is a turd or there is a problem with one of the connections. Pull the split loom tubing off the alternator cables. They have a tendency to melt down and not work anymore. Make sure your wires still look like wires.

[beco2326]

check the charge cable connections. if the alt light is coming on, something is loose or the alternator is flaky.

is that the plug with just the three wires? this one has an internal regulator. i would think since even when it went bad before the light never came on , and now with the new one its on lol

[sly]

the 3 wire connector with 2 fat wires and one not so fat are the two charge wires and the sense wire. if the sense wire is not good (fuse link blown) then it will not charge. If the connections are loose in the plug, it may charge but will arc and burn up the plug and possibly cause a fire. This is why many of us have done 3G alternator swaps.

if you have a multimeter, put it on the battery and rev the engine slightly. The 2G alternator is notorious for piss poor idle charging. If the voltage comes up, then it is charging. If the alt light goes out at that point then you have a weak, but not totally bad alternator. If the alt light never goes out and you do get over 13.3V when revving, the alternator has a regulator issue and needs to be replaced.

[beco2326]

the 3 wire connector with 2 fat wires and one not so fat are the two charge wires and the sense wire. if the sense wire is not good (fuse link blown) then it will not charge. If the connections are loose in the plug, it may charge but will arc and burn up the plug and possibly cause a fire. This is why many of us have done 3G alternator swaps.

if you have a multimeter, put it on the battery and rev the engine slightly. The 2G alternator is notorious for piss poor idle charging. If the voltage comes up, then it is charging. If the alt light goes out at that point then you have a weak, but not totally bad alternator. If the alt light never goes out and you do get over 13.3V when revving, the alternator has a regulator issue and needs to be replaced.

so this is what ive done. i went to orleans auto supply they checked it and it read 11.0 so they said the alt was not charging. so they sold me another alt. i just installed it , they said i need a fully charged battery? is that true? its at about 50% and was driving fine , no problems. all i have is a really old crappy charger i got from a yard sale. i put the charger on and its like just barley on the charging side. so should i just hook up the cables and see what happens. thank you for your help

[beco2326]

oh fuseable link . is there a fuse in there , where would i find it

[sly]

the fuseable link is near the starter solenoid. There is not a fuse in that, it's just a amp rated wire. If there's no continuity between the ring terminal on the wires and the alt's harness then the fuse link is probably blown. It's easier to replace with a fuse holder of the appropriate rating IMO.