alternator dead?

[BIGTOSH 10+ year member]

my volts are reading low and the alt is hot as hell to the touch. i have a stout xs power battery underhood and big3 done. does it sound like my alt has gone south?

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[FIMPALASS 10+ year member]

Turn your car on and then disconnect the battery if the motor diesyour alt is nolonger putting out enough power to run car or charge batteries.

 

[tjjohnson91 10+ year member]

no dont do that you will **** up the car................. turn your lights on if there brighter when the car is off then your alt is bad

 

[FIMPALASS 10+ year member]

no dont do that you will **** up the car................. turn your lights on if there brighter when the car is off then your alt is bad

No it won't **** up his car . Go ask a mechanic and they will tell you to do the same thing.

 

[tjjohnson91 10+ year member]

your computer will go all messed up.... its bad for it

 

[FIMPALASS 10+ year member]

When a car runs it runs off the alternator not the battery. The battery is to start the car. The only thing that hurts the comp is too much power and too little power.

 

[tjjohnson91 10+ year member]

Warning!

Some people tell you that you can check your alternator by disconnecting it from the battery to see if the alternator can produce enough current to keep the engine running. BAD IDEA! Disconnecting the battery will subject the voltage regulator (and computer and audio equipment...) to significant voltage spikes which may cause an otherwise good alternator to fail. Even if there were no damaging spikes, this test would not indicate whether or not the alternator was good because the engine will easily run with a weak or failing alternator.

Simple Test:

If you want to see if your alternator is producing current, turn on your headlights when you're parked and the engine idling with the headlights shining on a wall (at night). Notice how bright they are. Then turn the engine off. The lights should get dimmer when you turn the engine off. If the lights get brighter when you kill the engine, the alternator was not charging sufficiently. When doing this test, the lights should be the only load (turn the stereo, a/c and other accessories off). With a heavy load, an otherwise good alternator may not be able to produce sufficient amounts of current at idle.

 

[FIMPALASS 10+ year member]

Where did you find that?

 

[tjjohnson91 10+ year member]

Electrical System Explained - Realm of Excursion

 

[DammitJames 10+ year member]

No it won't **** up his car . Go ask a mechanic and they will tell you to do the same thing.

wanted to ask a "mechanic"? i dont feel like explaining it all so read up and learn a bit i would never recommend your method of testing an alt if you really want to check it out take it to the local auto parts store and let them use their load tester on it or the local shop can do it but will prolly charge you

Charging System Basics

 

[DammitJames 10+ year member]

Electrical System Explained - Realm of Excursion

ROE stole that from bcae see the link i posted for full write up