The other day a friend told me my alternator was sparking when i gave the car gas. To my surprise it was, i was able to reproduce the spark when i would reconnect the alternator pigtail it would spark on contact. It would also spark when i would gas the car a bit.


I was able to get rid of the sparking somewhat by placing a rubber o-ring between the screw on the back of the alternator that holds the power cable that runs to the battery.

On the alternator it seems that the screw is double sided and is originally split in the middle with a rubber fitting.

I think that somehow the rubber fitting is worn and causing intermittent contact at random times when im driving. My voltage gauge droped to 10 while driving but the car did not turn off or show signs of hesitation. When i apply steady gas i can raise the voltage back up to 13 but if i let it idle the voltage just randomly starts droping until i give it gas again.
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I got everything tested at autozone and everything passed.

Can i remove the rear double sided screw without messing anything up? It seems to be clinging on to the alternator internally and isnt being held by thread.


Can anyone help me with this situation id hate to replace the alternator since its only about 2 months old. With the o ring i still get intermittent voltage drops sometimes ill be at 13 volts all day and at times it will just drop. Ive tried another battery with same results.

Car is an 86 iroc with v belt setup.

 

Regardless of how it tested, it sounds like you've got a regulator issue now, possibly due to damage from the short. None of that should be happening on a 2 month old alternator. I'd replace it ASAP.

 

Whats the ideal amperage i should shoot for when buying an alternator?

A friend had suggested a regulator issue aswell, is there any specific way of testing the regulator? Besides the obvious of taking it to an auto parts store?

 

Well if it's not putting out the correct voltage at idle without any unusual load, that pretty much is a test.

 

Alright thanks apeiron im gonna get one this weekend. Hopefully thats the end of it.