Jump to content
SAU Community

Alternator Charge Rate

grim32

By grim32,
in General Maintenance

 Share

Recommended Posts

grim32 Community Regular

grim32

Posted
Posted

hey guys battery was playing up but is new so i got a brand new alternator, i no the regulator is internal, put it in and checked with the multimeter and is putting out 17.6v on idle. this doesnt sound right, i thought 14.6v was normal. any advice will be greatly appreciated. thanks guys.

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/90777-alternator-charge-rate/
Share on other sites
SteveL Mentor

SteveL

Posted
Posted (edited)

17.6V is waaaay too high, assuming your meter is accurate. Anything in the region of 14 to 14.5V is normal. Most likely your regulator is stuffed, but best get things checked.

Edit: make sure all your connections are correct.

Edited by SteveL
grim32 Community Regular

grim32

Posted
  • Author
Posted

meter is 100%, this made car blow black smoke really bad[ fuel] ive had no luck with this car for the 18 months ive owned it, had to do everything a number of times cause everything i get for it is wrong. might as well keep spending on it cause its nearly brand new now. thanks SteveL

JimX Grand Master

JimX

Posted
Posted

It's your alternator regulator, get it replaced. You will start frying very expensive electronics before too long at 17V. I know someone who had around 17V in his old crappy Magna, and things started dying one at a time. Headlight bulbs, dash lights, dashboard, stereo head unit. The stereo was the last thing to go for some reason, and it was only then that he decided to see what might be wrong with the electrics! I guess he had his priorities right, who needs a working fuel gauge as long as you have music :P

grim32 Community Regular

grim32

Posted
  • Author
Posted

the alternator is brand new(genuine nissan), only put it in and run it for 20 seconds. voltage regulator is internal. spoke to the electrician today and he said maybe faulty, or a fuseable link could be stuffed. ill have a bit of a play but if i cant find it ill get him to fix it. thanks for the reply JimX

SKYBEE Collaborator

SKYBEE

Posted
Posted

jimx i doesnt neccesarly mean your reg is shot alts on new cars use a battery sense wire this tells the regulator the conditon of the batty pull the two pin plug off at the reg check with a test light check to see if it has battery sense at one of the pins if no then thats where i would start lookin try and find where that battery sense has gone

also check to see if you have warning light by putting the earth clip onto pos and probing the two pin plug you should get a dull glow if you check in side the car for a batt light being on do all this with the key on

cheers hope that helps

Cubes Grand Master

Cubes

Posted
Posted (edited)

As per the nissan manual, voltages should be up around 14 something volts when cold then drop to 13 something volts once warm.

How much was the alternator from Nissan?

Its possible they supplied the incorrect one? Unsure if that would cause overcharging or not. :(

Edited by Cubes
grim32 Community Regular

grim32

Posted
  • Author
Posted

paid $330 for the alternator. its fixed now. checked the plug and it had 12.2 pos on one side, 12.2 neg on the other. bridged them and the charge light came on. put the plug back on and started the car and is now charging at 14.2v. ill just keep an eye on it, thanks for the feed back guys

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • GTSBoy
      After market rear camber arm adjustment

      By GTSBoy · Posted

      Wheel alignment immediately. Not "when I get around to it". And further to what Duncan said - you cannot just put camber arms on and shorten them. You will introduce bump steer far in excess of what the car had with stock arms. You need adjustable tension arms and they need to be shortened also. The simplest approach is to shorten them the same % as the stock ones. This will not be correct or optimal, but it will be better than any other guess. The correct way to set the lengths of both arms is to use a properly built/set up bump steer gauge and trial and error the adjustments until you hit the camber you need and want and have minimum bump steer in the range of motion that the wheel is expected to travel. And what Duncan said about toe is also very true. And you cannot change the camber arm without also affecting toe. So when you have adjustable arms on the back of a Skyline, the car either needs to go to a talented wheel aligner (not your local tyre shop dropout), or you need to be able to do this stuff yourself at home. Guess which approach I have taken? I have built my own gear for camber, toe and bump steer measurement and I do all this on the flattest bit of concrete I have, with some shims under the tyres on one side to level the car.
    • Jarsky
      R33 Fuel Pump & Brakes after alarm swap

      By Jarsky · Posted

      Thought I would get some advice from others on this situation.    Relevant info: R33 GTS25t Link G4x ECU Walbro 255LPH w/ OEM FP Relay (No relay mod) Scenario: I accidentally messed up my old AVS S5 (rev.1) at the start of the year and the cars been immobilised. Also the siren BBU has completely failed; so I decided to upgrade it.  I got a newer AVS S5 (rev.2?) installed on Friday. The guy removed the old one and its immobilisers. Tried to start it; the car cranks but doesnt start.  The new one was installed and all the alarm functions seem to be working as they should; still wouldn't start Went to bed; got up on Friday morning and decided to have a look into the no start problem. Found the car completely dead.  Charged the battery; plugged it back in and found the brake lights were stuck on.  Unplugging the brake pedal switch the lights turn off. Plug it back in and theyre stuck on again. I tested the switch (continuity test and resistance); all looks good (0-1kohm).  On talking to AVS; found its because of the rubber stopper on the brake pedal; sure enough the middle of it is missing so have ordered a new one. One of those wear items; which was confusing what was going on However when I try unplugging the STOP Light fuses (under the dash and under the hood) the brake light still stays on. Should those fuses not cut the brake light circuit?  I then checked the ECU; FP Speed Error.  Testing the pump again; I can hear the relay clicking every time I switch it to ON. I unplugged the pump and put the multimeter across the plug. No continuity; im seeing 0.6V (ECU signal?) and when it switches the relay I think its like 20mA or 200mA). Not seeing 12.4V / 7-9A. As far as I know; the Fuel Pump was wired through one of the immobiliser relays on the old alarm.  He pulled some thick gauged harness out with the old alarm wiring; which looks to me like it was to bridge connections into the immobilisers? Before it got immobilised it was running just fine.  Im at a loss to why the FP is getting no voltage; I thought maybe the FP was faulty (even though I havent even done 50km on the new pump) but no voltage at the harness plug.  Questions: Could it be he didnt reconnect the fuel pump when testing it after the old alarm removal (before installing the new alarm)?  Is this a case of bridging to the brake lights instead of the fuel pump circuit? It's a bit beyond me as I dont do a lot with electrical; so have tried my best to diagnose what I think seems to make sense.  Seeking advice if theres for sure an issue with the alarm install to get him back here; or if I do infact, need an auto electrician to diagnose it. 
    • Duncan
      After market rear camber arm adjustment

      By Duncan · Posted

      Then, shorten them by 1cm, drop the car back down and have a visual look (or even better, use a spirit level across the wheel to see if you have less camber than before. You still want something like 1.5 for road use. Alternatively, if you have adjustable rear ride height (I assume you do if you have extreme camber wear), raise the suspension back to standard height until you can get it all aligned properly. Finally, keep in mind that wear on the inside of the tyre can be for incorrect toe, not just camber
    • V35Newbie
      After market rear camber arm adjustment

      By V35Newbie · Posted

      I know I have to get a wheel alignment but until then I just need to bring the rear tyres in a bit they're wearing to the belt on the inside and brand new on the outside edge. I did shorten the arms a bit but got it wrong now after a few klms the Slip and VDC lights come on. I'd just like to get it to a point where I can drive for another week or two before getting an alignment. I've had to pay a lot of other stuff recently so doing it myself is my only option 
    • Duncan
      After market rear camber arm adjustment

      By Duncan · Posted

      You just need a wheel alignment after, so just set them to the same as current and drive to the shop. As there are 2 upper links it may also be worth adding adjustable upper front links at the same time; these reduce bump steer when you move the camber (note that setting those correctly takes a lot longer as you have to recheck the camber at each length of the toe arm, through a range of movement, so you could just ignore that unless the handling becomes unpredictable)
×
×
  • Create New...