alright so, recently I got this 88 GL and it was great for about a week. Since then I have replaced both the alternator and the battery and I'm still getting a charge reading of 11.5v when the car is started. I've cleaned some connections and still the same.

 

I've been getting suggestions to swap out the battery cables and I just wanted to chime in here and see if anyone has any good resources for trouble shooting or has had a similar experience and can point me in the right direction.....

 

Oh also! I'm now on my second NEW alternator in 3 days.....got the first new one tested today and they told me it was bad....literally bought the thing 3 days ago....good thing it was under warranty.

 

Let me know what y'all are thinking.

Something is burning out the rectifiers. Double check the alt wiring. If it looks crispy its probably pulling high resistance. This will put a huge load on the alt and battery.

11.5V is not charging, it's running off the battery.   You want at least 13.8V at the battery terminals to be charging in a car situation.

 

Check the heavy white wire that connects to the output terminal of the alternator, and where it goes into the fusible link box on the coolant recovery tank.  Check the link, and the wire to the battery clamp.  Looking for good solid connections.

 

For reference & battery checking - Battery at rest readings - 12.0V = fully discharged, 12.6V = fully charged.  Battery at rest means no loads or charging for at least 24 hours.

I should have mentioned too I swapped the alternator for one from an 88 Nissan Maxima and I'm using the plug from an alternator off an 89 Nissan Pathfinder. It fits the alternator fine so I'm thinking it's not that but I'll post photos tomorrow of the set up once it's light outside. I'll check the white wire. So it goes from the alt to the link box, then to the positive side of the battery right?

 

I'm so bummed about this. My first Subaru and it's such an awesome car, but right now it's a beautiful paperweight. Wish we all lived close together so we could just come to each other's houses and check stuff out.

 

What ar the rectifiers? Is that a reference to something inside the alternator?

That this is a swap, adds another layer of unknowns - as in correctly wired.

 

The power travels that path, the white wire goes to one end of a link, the other end of the link goes to the battery through another wire.  The link box pops right out of the slot on the tank, so it should be pretty easy to trace.

 

Yes, sometimes someone is close enough to look, first hand is nearly always faster.

 

The rectifiers are semiconductors that change the AC that the alternator generates into DC that can be used to charge a battery.  They are inside the alternator. 

 

alternatorparts.com sells all of the internal parts for alternators.
 

Pictures of what you have done could be helpful .

The swap wiring needs thoroughly checked.

Verify proper wiring, sounds like some may be wrong. Verify connections.

 

Did this car sit for awhile before you got it? May have done rodent damaged wiring.

 

A separated crank pulley will cause low charging as well.

It didn't it as far as I know. It came from Colorado about a month before and all was good with it. I did always have a low voltage reading before things started taking a turn for the worse. I'll post pictures of the set up tomorrow when it's light out.

There are 2 separate wires that are attached to the back of the alternator.  If you don't connect them both, you will burn out the alternator real fast.

two wires? I'm only seeing on for the Battery.....besides the plug....

sorry the picture isn't very detailed. this is how I've wired up the new alt plug for the Nissan alt in the 88 GL.  as you can see in the background the thick white wire is connected to the BAT spot on the back of the alt which runs to to POSITIVE side of the battery where it was hooked up to the old alt and old side of the battery.  This alt has a radio silencer on it, but other than that that's it for wiring. the BAT connection and the Plug. that's all there was on the old alt.....am I missing something here?

 

There are 2 thin wires in a plug on a stock alternator. There is a convertion on for the swap also. They need to be there.

DaveT,

The two wires from the original plug are the white w/ red stripe and the black w/ white stripe what I connected to the new plug for the Nissan alt..... one is around 16 the other might be a 12 or something close to that. just attached them with the spades you see in the photo to the new plug from the nissan alt.....think this is wrong?

Edited January 5, 20179 yr by YnotDIY

I haven't done the swap, but I read the big thread that has all the details on here a while back. It's on my some day project list.

I'm pretty sure the wiring is right and there is something else up with the car. charged my battery over night and it still wouldn't turn over. getting some help with it on saturday. I'll post results here when i get them.

Ok, yes, that is something else. The engine should start and run even if you remove the alternator.

Check the ground cable from the battery to the engine.   Check all the grounds while you are at it.

alright this is what we found out today.  there is spark to the engine. also gas to the engine. switched out all spark plugs and ignition coil...still wouldnt start...wanted to turn over but wouldnt quite make it ever after HEAT.  Finally somehow it started just craking it. ran for about ten minutes at around 2,000 RMP.....then stalled out and wouldnt start again. I'm thinking it's something with the idle air valve or throttle position sensor that isn't letting enough gas or to much or whatever to let it start consistently. gonna clean the idle air valve tomorrow and see if that helps.....fingers crossed....

any ideas yall? I'm open to suggestions for sourcing parts.. cleaning parts.... or whatever you're thinking.

If the idle air valve is stuck / dead it will just seem like the engine shuts off if you let the gas pedal go, as in try to let it idle.  If you hold the pedal down a bit, it will keep running if it's only the idle air valve.  I had one fail on the way home once.  I just had to keep a little pressure on the gas pedal so it wouldn't die off.

 

If it's that, it could also be a bad connection or wire to the valve.

the car just idles really high. around 2,000 even when it's been sitting over night in 10 degree weather.....hey it started this morning though and the new alternator seems to be charging the battery! so that's good news.

anyway to clean the IAC without taking it off the car or should I just not be lazy and take it of for a good cleaning.....

 

   < - - - maybe this method?

 

initial high idle when very cold I've seen over 2000.

yeah that's what mine is right now, but only when the clutch is engaged. Once it's in gear and driving it idles fine, as soon as the clutch is pressed in to switch gears or when stopping it revs to around 2000 or 3000 rpms..... ideas?

I had a CTS go bad, and make the idle speed nutty.  Intermittent.  No code, since the bogus readings were all inside the limits, just wrong.  The CTS is the 2 wire sensor on the lower part of the thermostat housing.

alright thanks I'll have to check this out then. I'll let ya know when I've fixed that issue. for now the alternator and battery issue is AOK