Troubleshooting Alternator / Voltage Reg

Alternator is not charging battery. Connections and cables are all good, no voltage drops. Battery holds a charge, checked under load and is fine.

This one has separate alternator and regulator. Anyone know how to check regulator & alternator separately to see which is bad? Alternator is a pain to remove.

97 Aerostar

Thanks.

R/R Video for this car

formatting link

Voltage regulator:

formatting link

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney
Loading thread data ...

"Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com... Alternator is not charging battery. Connections and cables are all good, no voltage drops. Battery holds a charge, checked under load and is fine.

This one has separate alternator and regulator. Anyone know how to check regulator & alternator separately to see which is bad? Alternator is a pain to remove.

97 Aerostar

Thanks.

R/R Video for this car

formatting link

Voltage regulator:

formatting link

Alternator says 'internal' regulator. Stupid question - does internal mean the one that is sold separately is bolted on already?

formatting link

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

Have you checked out this article?

formatting link

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

I have no idea what kind of '97 Aerostgar you have that would have an external or sepparate regulator - certainly not one built by Ford - perhaps a twin engined Piper?? ALL Ford aerostars of that vintage use a regulator that is attached to and part of the alternator. Yes, you can change it without dissassembling the alternator - and if it is a 3 liter you CAN change it without removing the alternator but it takes about half the time to remove the alternator than it does to finesse the regulator off and back on in place.. The chances of the regulator fixing it are significantly less than 50/50, in my experience.. Remove the alternator and replacxe it, complete with new regulator. Just do the job ONCE for a change.

Reply to
clare

Which engine do you have? The regulator is a lot more work to remove from the alternator on the vehicle than removing the alternator. Can't remember how it is on a 4 liter - but it is certainly no easier than on the 3.0

The "internal" regulator is bolted to the alternator. It IS available separatgely for repair - and SOME replacement alternators come without the regulator. Standard practice around here is to supply the alternator complete with regulator installed and tested.

Reply to
clare

The regulator is the squarish grey part fastened to the back of the alternator with the 4 little bolts in the picture on the second page.

Reply to
clare

good, no voltage drops. Battery holds a charge, checked under load and is fine.

check regulator & alternator separately to see which is bad? Alternator is a pain to remove.

internal mean the one that is sold separately is bolted on already?

formatting link

Thanks. Did a similar test and nothing coming from the alternator.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

good, no voltage drops. Battery holds a charge, checked under load and is fine.

check regulator & alternator separately to see which is bad? Alternator is a pain to remove.

3.0
Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

The rectifier diodes could be shot in the alternator, if you are mechanically adept, you could disassemble the alternator, test and replace the diodes, if you can find them. If money isn't a big issue, buy a rebuilt or new alternator.

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

I want to point this out as it may save lots of people big bucks AND inconvenience over time.

I am a field service tech and drive a lot.

I used to have alternators fail a lot, perhaps every 2 or 3 3 years... before i went to a preventive maintence program for my vehicles battery

by 3 years old i juust replace the vehicles battery, wether it tests good or not......

i hate getting stranded with a dead battery

since i went to this my alternators quit failing. only failure was once with bearing failure

my theory, batteries at end of life make the alternator work much harder.

so a new battery every few years, before it fails saves on alternators.

i give my still good just replaced batteries to my best buddy who uses them on a 14 foot blade windmill he built.

his dud batteries get traded in, at the time of batttery replacement so no core charge......

batteries are easier to change than alternators

Reply to
bob haller

It's not a theory. You're correct. It happens because a dying battery becomes a black hole for any electrical source connected to it. It does increase the strain on the voltage regulator components as a result, which most of the time, are where the failure itself occurs. It's not that often that a winding inside the alternator goes before the regulator does.

Btw, if you've seen the commercials for the tiny lithium (pick a flavor) jump start units for sale, if your battery is nearly completely drained and/or is actually bad, that unit isn't going to be able to start your car right away/if ever. As, it's power is being consumed by the battery first and foremost. The dead battery will have to reach a certain charge point before enough current is available to do anything else. That's why you have to wait a few minutes sometimes when you connect the old fashioned jumper cables to it.

I tried to explain this to an associate a few weeks ago when she was showing it to me. She ignored my advice and learned for herself that depending on battery condition, it will not work. She learned the hard way, btw. She wound up late for several places she had to be not a week later. Left her lights on by accident, battery wasn't totally dead, but was down enough to the point, it was going to take whatever power you fed it and not leave enough amps for the starter solenoid let alone starter itself to crank until it's own capacity was restored some.

You'll notice on the tv commercials when they demo it, the car solenoid clicks. In that scenario, the battery is weak, but has a little juice available; it won't consume everything the little battery pack has, some will pass onto the cars other systems when you try to start it.

If the battery is way down or outright dead, it's going to consume whatever the little battery can provide it and leave little to nothing for something attached that wants to drain a pile of amps at once. Dead batteries/bad batteries/damaged batteries are black holes for incoming power.

Or, they remove! the car battery and tie it directly to the battery cables (which allows everything the little pack can muster to try to start your car) And finally, they'll show you a digital meter that's measuring voltage and only that showing that 12volts is available. Sure is, but, not enough amps are behind it to start your car. And there won't be until the little battery dumps enough power back into the car battery so it'll stop sucking power down like a black hole; refusing to pass on enough to benefit your cars starter.

It's the same concept as jump starting your car. If your car battery is too far down, your car isn't going to crank right over, even if the engine on the other car is running and you you know for sure the other cars battery is hot to trot. The dead battery will accept as much as it possibly can get from the power source and leave next to nothing for anything trying to pull from it until it reaches a certain charge point. Until it does, you're pissing in the wind.

OTH, if you take one battery terminal lose on the dead car and connect your jumper wires and/or jump start battery pack directly to the terminals on the car you want to start, that car will get the full benefits of your borrowed power source and turn over for you.

Once it does, reconnect the disconnected terminal and let your alternator finish recharging it. Make sure you leave enough room to re-attach it while your external power source is connected, so that the circuit remains completed; as some cars will die if you disconnect the battery; even if the alternator is perfectly okay and is supplying 'run' power. Those cars are using the battery to complete a circuit and if the circuit goes open, your car doesn't continue running.

Obviously when you reconnect the terminals, go ahead and remove your external power source asap; you don't want to stress your alternator by asking it to charge two batteries at once. Don't worry about surging your cars computer, either. The weak battery will happily accept it without passing it along; the black hole effect does have that benefit, atleast.

Reply to
Diesel

all good, no voltage drops. Battery holds a charge, checked under load and is fine.

to check regulator & alternator separately to see which is bad? Alternator is a pain to remove.

internal mean the one that is sold separately is bolted on already?

formatting link

I troubleshot it to the alternator. This time I had to get it fixed right away to use in a paying job, so I charged up the battery and dropped it off a the local garage. Good thing, too. The tensioner pulley turned out to be going bad. I probably would not have noticed that, and even if I did, I would have had no way to get to the parts place. Total damage for R/R alternator/regular & serpentine belt was $400. Plus tensioner assy, $130.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

What is the meaning of "R/R"? Rebuilt or Refurbished?

At least you have it fixed, hopefully it will last the life of the vehicle.

Reply to
Stormin' Norman

Probably Repair/Replace because some people get nitpicky about the differences between them.

Reply to
FromTheRafters

all good, no voltage drops. Battery holds a charge, checked under load and is fine.

how to check regulator & alternator separately to see which is bad? Alternator is a pain to remove.

internal mean the one that is sold separately is bolted on already?

formatting link

alternator.

right away to use in a paying job, so I charged up the battery and dropped it off a the local garage. Good thing, too. The tensioner pulley turned out to be going bad. I probably would not have noticed that, and even if I did, I would have had no way to get to the parts place. Total damage for R/R alternator/regular & serpentine belt was $400. Plus tensioner assy, $130.

Remove & Replace

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

This is why I do all my own work (exception is automatic trannies) . My guess is that parts cost to the garage was in the neighborhood of 125-150 bucks , the rest was labor and a nice markup on that tensioner and alt .

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Generally speaking R&R is remove and replace.

Reply to
clare

Here in Ontario Canada dealer price on the tensioner for a 4 liter is$73.87 and list is $111.28 from NAPA That was a month or so ago when I replaced mine. The 3 liter will be very close. In the USA at carpartsdiscount.com the 4 liter tensioner is a whole $29.35 US for Gates and $26.35 for Dorman., For the 3 liter it is $35.55 for a Dorman and $40.75 for a Gates. Your garage WILL have paid more than that. NapaOnline has the 4 liter one listed at $49.95

Reman alternators at NapaOnline are in the $220 range, New in the $520 range. The alternator comes with the regulator installed.

Not sure what the situation is now, but garages used to make about 30% on parts, and labour ranges from the low $70s to over $100 depending on location.. So, say $49 for the tensioner, $220 for the alternator - total $270-ish times 1.3+ $351 plus an hour at $70 and you are over $420 - so all in all, at $400 for the job you did OK. You were not ripped off - for sure.

Reply to
clare

I wasn't trying to imply he was ripped off ... I just hate to pay someone else that kind of money to do something I can do myself . Oh , and his total was $530 , so either the parts were more or labor was a lot more than $70/hr . Can't see that job flat rating more than 1.5 hours , if that . Recently our Toyota 4Runner (V6) blew a spark plug out of the head - probably crossthreaded and/or partially stripped at some time in the past . Total for parts was under a hundred bucks including the reamer/tap kit and a new coil pack . Labor was about 2.5 hours and half that time was spent machining guide bushings and other tooling . Had that problem gone to a shop they would have at least pulled the head , likely wanted to replace rather than repair , and I'm certain I wouldn't have gotten out for less than 1500 bucks . It helps that I have a machine shop , and I understand that not everybody does . -- Snag

Reply to
Terry Coombs

Just did a plug on a friend's Rotax 912 in his SeaRey amphibian plane. Less than an hour including modifying the installation tool. Had to buy the special 12mm kit - save-a-thread - I think the kit was just over 100 dollars and hasabout half a dozen helicoils.

Reply to
clare

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.