RocketyMan

I kind of want everyone's opinion on this..but in my 84 camaro, I just recently put in the 94 amp alternator and everything still struggles to run.

For instance, is it normal for the alternator to try and keep voltage up when the cooling fan is on and the blower motor on high? Does anyone else experience this at idle?

I just don't see how its hard for the car to try and run two accessories at idle and even sometimes while driving. I REALLY cant imagine the cooling fan and blower fan taking up over or around 94 amps to run. Does that even sound right???

I'm thinking there's something drawing current that I'm unaware of because after driving the, alt. gets pretty dang hot without the cooling fan on or blower motor. None of this makes sense because in my 96 camaro (it has just a 115 amp alternator) it can run alot of the accessories just fine (I.E. Stereo up loud, blower fan on high, ac fan on, lights on..)

Please give me your thoughts.

camaronewbie

Have the alternator tested - autozone, advance, oreilly's, any of the big chains can test it in the car for free. I just had mine replaced for free after 10 months 'cause it was overcharging - most alternators come with limited lifetime warranty.

RocketyMan

I originally had a 78 amp alternator on there and it was pretty weak. I even replaced the diodes and voltage regulators...even the outer coil.

The 94 amp alternator was a junkyard pull and I got it tested immediately. It passed with flying colors too.

So I know the alt is good. I'm not sure but I'm pretty sure 94 amp was the biggest alt that came with the V-belt that'd work for as a bolt on.

enswrob

i just had an alternator pass testing at autozone. it passed. i took it to my brothers shop and he tested it with different tester. turns out the voltage was fine. amprage was low. so i got a new alt. popped it in and good as new. auto zone used the same type of tester the 2nd time as my brothers shop and i told them i needed an alt the first time....
went through 2 alts before we got one that actualy worked right. the first autozone one crapped it self on the drive home. stupid nut came off the shaft holding the pulley on and hogged out the pulley to no use and ruined the alt.

important lesson. even if they pass testing at a parts store they can be bad.
check pulley tightness before leaving the store it can cause problems.

RocketyMan

Hmmm...that's an interesting story. I checked the tautness and it was pretty tight. The place I went to go get it started also tests amperage as well as running voltage. It still said it passed them with flying colors.

I'm just thinking there's something in the system that's drawing unnecessary current.

enswrob

i found the actual culprit. a broken wire on the pigtail for the alt affected the output of it. was charging battery but not enough.pigtail replaced. problem solved.

id check for broken wires. or something grounding out.

RocketyMan

I'm thinking a good way to check is like the fuses. Like pull one out and see which one is drawing the most juice. But yeah. I can see if a wire is grounding out or something basically drawing extra current. I just don't know where to start with that tho....