Alternator advice

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Threads
13
Messages
97
Location
Ellicott City, MD
Got in my 40 last weekend and when I tried to start it was completely dead. Thought I may have left something on (radio or lights) so I charged it and eventually got her started. Thought I was all good and drove about 15 minutes away to run an errand and when I got back in it was completely dead again. I am assuming this is a straightforward bad alternator but if anyone has other ideas please let me know.

I was looking for advice on the best replacement alternator to get and how tough an install it would be to do myself. Thanks and look forward to seeing folks at CMCC.
 
Eliminate some variables first. Four possibilities, bad alternator, bad voltage regulator, bad wiring and/or bad battery.

With the engine running:
- What is the output voltage at the alternator? Measure voltage at the alternator’s output post and the alternator’s housing. Should be around 14.2 volts.
- What is the voltage at the battery? Measure voltage right at the battery‘s posts, not the clamps. Should be close to 14.2 volts.
Let me know what you get and then we can move on to step two.
 
Eliminate some variables first. Four possibilities, bad alternator, bad voltage regulator, bad wiring and/or bad battery.

With the engine running:
- What is the output voltage at the alternator? Measure voltage at the alternator’s output post and the alternator’s housing. Should be around 14.2 volts.
- What is the voltage at the battery? Measure voltage right at the battery‘s posts, not the clamps. Should be close to 14.2 volts.
Let me know what you get and then we can move on to step two.
Listen to this man. He knows of what he speaks.
 
Doctor Electric is in the House!! (That would be Edd’s super hero name. Or maybe Electric Man would sound better.)

@emorth will get you straightened out and headed in the right direction.
 
Or maybe Electric Man would sound better



He could be E-Man for short...but Jimmy Castor already has that covered!

1558802535766.png
 
Last edited:
You couldn't resist, could you?
 
Well, we armature bunch in our field, that fuse well together, LED by our positive attraction to Land Cruisers.

Even though some can be negative at times, we're still a well grounded group who relay knowledge with each other.

Know watt I'm sayin'?

Full disclosure: I cheated on about half of this, but the rest came from my addled brain...
 
Wow, this phase of the thread has sparked some positive feedback. Glad we didn’t have to coax anyone to generate comments. Hopefully everyone is normally open to creative replies. None of the replies seemed to be baud or disconnected so I hope we didn’t hertz anyone’s feelings or say anything that would insulate them from this thread. If we did propagate a comment that discharged someone’s potential energy, oh well, watt the flux? Wire we on Mud anyway? To make contacts, relay information, supply current output regarding activities and make connections (soldered I hope) with others.

Ok, I’ll shut up now before you guys kilo me.
 
Eliminate some variables first. Four possibilities, bad alternator, bad voltage regulator, bad wiring and/or bad battery.

With the engine running:
- What is the output voltage at the alternator? Measure voltage at the alternator’s output post and the alternator’s housing. Should be around 14.2 volts.
- What is the voltage at the battery? Measure voltage right at the battery‘s posts, not the clamps. Should be close to 14.2 volts.
Let me know what you get and then we can move on to step two.
With engine running the readings are the following:

At battery post : 12.1

Alternator: 14.6

Thoughts?
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom