Ok, so after I turned my car into a boat last summer, I had to replace among lots of other things, the alternator. I got a brand new one and up until a few weeks ago it has done great. My battery however has been a little weak for a few months, if I let my car sit for 2-3 days then it would go dead. So last night I notice my head lights seem dim along with my dash lights, when I turn on my heater my radio kicks off and back on, and same way with my head lights. So I grab the volt meter and check the voltage with it running and the lights on, it was putting out 8.65 volts . Heres the confusing part, now battery light, even though the voltage got so low that it started to miss on my way home. I figured maybe the battery had a few dead cells and the alternator just had trouble keeping up with everything, so I drop the battery in out of my truck. Starts up and everything is nice and bright, voltage was only 11.68 with the lights on and 12.50 with everything off and the car running.

Obviously the problem is in the charging system, but the lack of the battery light coming on is throwing me off, I keep wanting to say its a ground problem, but at the same time I'm missing my splash shield and my alternator has been getting wet and you can hear the bearings inside making noise. I'm basically figuring the alternator but just figured I would through it out here incase someone else had the same problem and had a different solution.

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does sound like the alt is going again if you hear the bearing then its not spinning properly or keeping shit charged and thats why it dies after a while. if your voltage drops that much when you turn stuff on then your alt isnt keeping up. also check for loose connections and lose grounds.

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I was gonna check a few grounds out first then if they check out replace the alternator once again(this will make # 5 or 6 I lost count) I've just never had one not keep up with no battery light

I'm just worried right now, I got a job interview at 4:30, if that fucker lets me down on the way I'm gonna totally go berserk and probably end up with a broken fist before the days end

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Definitely sounds like the alternator again. Don't be too worried about the charging light on the dash, after all that bulb maybe dead.

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well it might be, but I have seen it light up so many damn times lol, if the snow is melted off the driveway then I'll back the stang out and pull the rex in, if there is still snow on the driveway then I won't be able to get the stang around in it, our driveway slopes so it will just slide in the yard

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if you drive with everything off youll be fine. no radio no lights leave the headlights off turn the dome light completely off not in the middle so it turns on when the doors open. just turn stuff you dont need off. until you get it fixed so you dont miss the interview. when you come to complete stops try to rev it a lil like hold it around 2-3k to get the alt to spin more to generate more power. that will keep you alive long enough to get back if its that big of a concern.

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thats what I've been doing, I drove to work with just fog lights in before the sun came up lol. I'm pretty sure I'll make it back home, but then again with my luck who knows. I think my alternator is still under warranty so I should be in good shape there

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I put my new alternator on and you can hear it whine like its struggling.
With all lights and accessories on it will hold 12.04 volts.
I'm gonna get a new battery tomorrow (working 12 hours today )
then if I still have problems I'll probably upgrade my ground cable to something bigger

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check the belt and pully's. that could be your issue right there. remember theres no force comming from the alt so its not the alt thats struggling to turn over and over. you can spin the alt by yourself and that thing will spin (when its out of the car and no belt on ofcourse) for a while. theres something else wrong.

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have you ohmed your cables?

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no, thats probably a good idea, but I'm not sure what the specs are for cables, would it be the same as like 18 GA wire?

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oh yeah, the belt tension is good, trust me I'm down to about 15 mins out and 15 mins back in, this is like the 6th one on this rex, I did two on my SI, so I can about do it in my sleep now

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should be close to nothing at all

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thats what I was thinking, The neg cable is pretty coroded so its possible that it won't ohm good

probably right around 3-5 ohms is what I expect to see in a good cable if I were to guess, right?

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Clean your battery terminals and the cable clamps.

probably right around there

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I do that every time I put an alternator in so they stay pretty clean

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