alternator / battery issue

[submat]

Haven't driven my Loyale in a while because it has been sitting while I find the time to replace head gaskets.  The battery was dead but didn't think anything of it because it has been sitting.  Just took it in to get it tested (really just wanted to charge it up)  and the result is that it is a bad battery.

 

Going to get the alternator tested next.  I do have a lifetime warranty on the alternator which is good but the battery that was tested was only 2 years old.  I have been fighting this for years now.  Been replacing batteries and
alternators way too often. Think this is now the 3rd or 4th alternator I have replaced and it is taking out batteries with it.

 

Anyone else have this issue on this car or is it just my bad luck?

 

[DaveT]

One of the sure ways to kill a lead acid battery is to allow it to sit in a less than fully charged state. The lower the charge, the more damage. If you plan on not using a car for more than a week or so, disconnect the battery.

 

I've heard about a lot of people having poor luck with rebuilt alternators on here. I rebuild my own, typically have not had unusual problems.

 

My original oem alternators all went about 150k miles before needing a brush. At wich time I replaced the bearings also. Over time since 1988 I've had a couple rectifier and regulator failures.

[ferp420]

The problem with a 1 wire is it only reads voltage at the battery instead of the fuese pannel so its a big strain on the battery and dosent account for the load on the system just the battery its real easy to wire a gm 3 wire  or any other brand and it wont kill your battery the 1 wire is for people who only drive on sudays and keep there car on a battery buddy and want a super clean engine bay fine for hot rods but not so good on daily drivers it will work but your voltage will be all over the place a good battery can deal with it but sesitive electronics will suffer ive seen batterys explode from using a 1 wire it was old and used  but still the overcharging and over discharging poped it

[idosubaru]

1. Aftermarket alternators suck. For Starters alternators fuel pumps - avoid aftermarket if possible

 

2. 3-4 alternators in how long?

 

3. two batteries in two years and probably plenty of jumps, stop letting the battery die and deteriorate by sitting. Run the car sufficiently or get a proper charger/battery conditioner.

 

4. I’ve heard dead batteries and jumping then and then running essentially off the alternator while the batt charges can stress alternators.

 

5. Check parasitic draw.

 

6. Rebuild yours with a better voltage regulator if possible.

 

7. Convert to an EJ alternator.

[Gloyale]

Check the fusible link that the charge runs through.  IIRC it's hte black one.  Replace it maybe?  Check your battery connections, engine ground.

 

I sometimes end up running a secondary main charge wire directly from the Alt to Batt using new 12 gauge wire and a 2" section of 12g fusible link wire at the battery connection.  I do this standard on EJ swaps running higher amp alts.

[submat]

Hmm, think it may be related to bad ground or something.  Had alternator tested and it tested good.  When I took off starter I noticed the wire connection to that wasn't real tight, wasn't loose but didn't take much to spin the nut off.  Maybe a bad connection there.  I'll check out the other suggestions listed here too.  How do you check for parasitic draw?

[DaveT]

Make sure everything is off. Disconnect the negative battery wire. Connect an amp meter between the negative battery post and the wire. If you suspect a large parasitic draw, use a 12v bulb so you don't fry the meter.

[rdweninger]

Another way is the disconnect the neg battery cable ... then touch neg cable to neg post and look for a little spark.   Helps if it is dark out (ie., nighttime).

  Most multimeters have a very low milliamp limit ... so, yes, you can fry your meter.