On my way to work I noticed that when I was at ideal my heater fan would slow down, but as I inreased the RPM's it returned to normal. I wasn't running any accesories at the time, so, do you think it might be time to replace the alternator before it goes out, or is this normal?
Altenator questions? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Dino
- Start date
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Replacing the brushes in the alternator is good PM if it has been done of late. Depending on it's abuse, some change them as regulary as 80k. About a 1/2 banana job once you get the alternator out. Getting it out isn' techincally difficult, just a pain in the back side. $15 or so for the brushes.
Mine does the exact same thing, when idling heater fan spins slower than when revving it up, you can see the change in the volt gauge. I never thought of this as abnormal, since I think even at a idle it's still charging plenty to charge the battery and such, but just not as much as it can charge when it's revved up a bit. I was suspicous at first since I've had another vehicle which would eat voltage regulators, after awhile it wouldn't charge at a idle, then it wouldn't charge below 1500 rpms, then below 2000 rpms, then below 3000 rpms, hard to drive a car when you are always revving it that high to keep the alt charging.
Brentbba said:As an alternate plan, you could let your starter go bad knowing it was headed south and let it fry your alternator like I did. Then you could just replace them both. hehehe
There goes the accountant........Cost savings in combined labor operations....
If it aint broke, don't fix it...
The Alternator symtoms you are describing are perfectly normal. I have a Mean Green Alt and it does the same thing. I don't recall any vehicles I have owned that the blower (draws more juice then most accesories) has not slowed down while idling.
Yomama
The Alternator symtoms you are describing are perfectly normal. I have a Mean Green Alt and it does the same thing. I don't recall any vehicles I have owned that the blower (draws more juice then most accesories) has not slowed down while idling.
Yomama
cruiserdan said:There goes the accountant........Cost savings in combined labor operations....
but a little costly on the parts, when combined!
Have your battery checked out.
When a battery ages, it doesn't want to hold a charge as well. When you're at idle, most of your power is coming from your battery because alternator output is low. Then when you rev up, the alternator supplies more power and everything lights back up. Your alternator is doing it's job - have your battery tested.
When a battery ages, it doesn't want to hold a charge as well. When you're at idle, most of your power is coming from your battery because alternator output is low. Then when you rev up, the alternator supplies more power and everything lights back up. Your alternator is doing it's job - have your battery tested.
cruiserdan said:There goes the accountant........Cost savings in combined labor operations....
Don't you have some inventory to count or something for your Controller........hehehe.
Or are you still going to claim Patton isn't scratching himself. 
Riding gloves my 
Eduardo96FZJ80 said:
You got that right.
Next time I hear anything resembling even ONE click from a starter, I'm picking up the phone for the parts to rebuild it from the man. (That would be you Dan ) Last time I'll procrastinate with a starter.
Brentbba said:You got that right.
I still have the set of contacts, and the new plunger sitting on the garage shelf !!
I'm gonna get to them soon
Hmmm........would worn brushes cause the same symptom with the headlights / dashlights as well?
Mean Green
Mark
After installing the Mean Green 200a I presume, did you find that the idler pulley was not contacting the drive belts any more? Mine do not engage the idler pulley and I was wondering if this is normal and alright as long as the belts are adjusted properly.yomama said:
Mark
