Alternator overcharging

[chaseincats]

55 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

Thanks for the post haircut pic. Much better.

So as for the test... Yes, the "T" connector is involved.

When the problem is occurring and the alternator voltage is too high, try sticking a wire in the back of the "T" connector at the W/R wire and connect the other end of that wire to the other W/R at the BATT connection. Here's a pic of the back of my alternator. Jumepr the two W/R red wires together like this:

By 'jumper' you mean take an ohm measurement with a multimeter, not stick a wire between the two, right?  (please say ohm measurement)

[Yarb]

You didn’t give a measurement with the engine running that would give a voltage output. 

[chaseincats]

18 minutes ago, Yarb said:

You didn’t give a measurement with the engine running that would give a voltage output. 

Gotcha.  I took it for a drive today and it was behaving, next time it misbehaves I will.

[Captain Obvious]

9 hours ago, chaseincats said:

By 'jumper' you mean take an ohm measurement with a multimeter, not stick a wire between the two, right?  (please say ohm measurement)

I meant stick a short piece of wire between the two shorting them together. They are already supposed to be connected hard together inside the wiring harness. One of the working theories is that connection inside the harness has become questionable.

If you're not comfortable just trusting some guy on the internet who says "Naaah. It'll be fine. Just short that junk together." I totally get it.     Next time the problem comes up, just start by taking the voltage measurements from each of those wires to the alternator case. We'll go from there.

Actually, the first thing you should do the next time the problem starts is to wiggle that "T" connector around on the back of the alternator and see if wiggling does anything. Then take the two voltage readings of the two W/R to case.

[chaseincats]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

I meant stick a short piece of wire between the two shorting them together. They are already supposed to be connected hard together inside the wiring harness. One of the working theories is that connection inside the harness has become questionable.

If you're not comfortable just trusting some guy on the internet who says "Naaah. It'll be fine. Just short that junk together." I totally get it.     Next time the problem comes up, just start by taking the voltage measurements from each of those wires to the alternator case. We'll go from there.

Actually, the first thing you should do the next time the problem starts is to wiggle that "T" connector around on the back of the alternator and see if wiggling does anything. Then take the two voltage readings of the two W/R to case.

Haha sounds good, I'll wiggle away!

[chaseincats]

On 7/4/2023 at 8:44 PM, Captain Obvious said:

I meant stick a short piece of wire between the two shorting them together. They are already supposed to be connected hard together inside the wiring harness. One of the working theories is that connection inside the harness has become questionable.

If you're not comfortable just trusting some guy on the internet who says "Naaah. It'll be fine. Just short that junk together." I totally get it.     Next time the problem comes up, just start by taking the voltage measurements from each of those wires to the alternator case. We'll go from there.

Actually, the first thing you should do the next time the problem starts is to wiggle that "T" connector around on the back of the alternator and see if wiggling does anything. Then take the two voltage readings of the two W/R to case.

I completely forgot to update you on this, sorry about that.  Wiggling it worked and I haven't had an issue since.  What a waste of time changing all those alternators out ended up being lol.

Thanks Captain

[Yarb]

Have you located the bad connection?

[chaseincats]

2 hours ago, Yarb said:

Have you located the bad connection?

Yeah, the PO made a poor connection that was hiding under a bunch of electrical tape

[Captain Obvious]

So there was an intermittent connection in the "T" connection at the back of the alternator?

You fixed that and you're charging system is all good now?   Excellent!!   

[chaseincats]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

So there was an intermittent connection in the "T" connection at the back of the alternator?

You fixed that and you're charging system is all good now?   Excellent!!   

Yep!