Alternator Charge Rate

[grim32]

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.

[grim32]

sorry guys its a r32 rb20det, thanks.

[SteveL]

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 October 11, 2005 by SteveL

[grim32]

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]

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

[grim32]

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]

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

[grim32]

thanks SKYBEE, ill have a play with it over the weekend

[Sumo]

Skybee is on the money.

[Cubes]

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 October 15, 2005 by Cubes

[grim32]

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