Alternator charging problem

[Kev1990]

So after going through multiple alternators from Autozone here I am again with the third failed alternator from AUTOZONE! LOL. So here's what's happening when i'm driving during the day the voltage will sometimes drop to 12.6 at idle then I turn on headlights go right back up to 13.8-14 I do think the alternator is failing again and when I mean the third alternator failure I mean this WEEK, last year I went through 5-7 of these. When I do a load test at idle with everything on it will drop to 11.8-12.4 at 1,500 rpm's 12.6-13 volts if i'm lucky. I do not feel like playing Autozone's failing alternator game again I torque everything down to proper specs to so I know the belt tension is good along with all grounds-connections. My question here is a new alternator worth purchasing at a junk yard? Looking for a OEM Honds one at the JY honestly because every other ĉb7 I have still have OEM alternators at idle with load it charges at 13.2-13.4 1,500 rpm's 13.8-14 volts everything off it charges about 14.2-14.4 at idle. Is there any new or rebuilt alternator anyone recommends? Or did anyone on here do the HO alternator upgrade and is willing to sell their OEM alternator if it was in good working condition prior to removal? I don't normally dig this far into alternator failures but last year when it kept happening it was the voltage regulator's and two bearings that failed. Would it be worth trying to change the brushing's on the Auozone alternator and see how that goes? At this point I would prefer to get a used OEM one though and rebuild it if I have to.

[F22Chris]

Try doing the big three.

Did you test voltage from the battery or straight from the alternator?

You can buy brushes off line all day, just get an oem regulator and you should be good

[Kev1990]

Hmm thanks for your reply Chris I checked it at the alternator and battery definitely another shitty alternator.

You think I would benefit from this big 3 upgrade lol I actually bought a new Bosch alternator from Amazon and gonna have it by Tuesday does anyone have any experience with these alternators? I heard I may have to change the pulley on it but that's fine with me if I don't have to replace the alternator again anytime soon

[F22Chris]

Bosch is a pretty good company, but I'm not sure why you wouldn't go Denso.

If you hit the thing, it could knock the brushes loose and work again. My uncle did that months ago on his 96 325ic. Still works fine, so it's worth a try hitting it and checking voltage again under load

[Kev1990]

Yeah I did that and I got a multimeter hooked up from the battery to inside of the car watching the alternator now with the load its at 11 volts so its getting worse pretty dam quick. The reason why I went with a Bosch is because I saw on a previous post that it was the best alternator he supposedly had and had the most output at idle even vs OEM I was looking at the Denso 210-0216 alternator rebuilt for 118 it may be rebuilt but I prefer to go new even though I may have to change the pulley on Bosch I just want a alternator that is gonna last me the life of the car.

[F22Chris]

Well regardless you should trace back the power wires and see if you get any build up in resistance. There could be voltage spikes shorting the alternator and damaging the battery

[Kev1990]

Hmmm. Honestly I blame it all on a shitty alternator last year I went through a bad Autozone alternator everyday for a week and each one had a bad voltage regulator and one of them had a higher charging rate that can fry computer systems plus on top of that I had two fail right off the shelve as they pulled it and tested it. Tomorrow I will be swapping the alternator and will let you know how the Bosch one does if I still have problems from there I'll do further inspection lol.

[skaterdudz02]

If after you're still having charging issues, I would highly suspect high resistance in the ground or bat + circuit. It wouldn't hurt to check voltage drop and make sure you'll below .25. Also check your grounds. A poor ground underneath the battery to the transmission or on the engine side can also degrade the life of an alternator.

[DGOfTheCentury]

All this focus on the alternator. A brand new alternator (autozone brand or not) should not go bad so fast. Clean the surface of your battery near the terminals. To be sure there are no shortages caused by sediment on the battery.

Since you go to autozone so much, you should have them test your battery outside of the car. I go to autozone as well and i have never had any problems with their parts.

My oem battery was doing the same thing. It would charge, but could not take any significant load at all. If a battery can not take a load, the alternator will take the load instead. Meaning the alternator is working twice as hard. I had to buy a new battery and now everything is fine.

Hope this helps. Electrical problems absolutely suck, good luck.

[Kev1990]

Thanks for your response. Battery was tested out and it tested fine, newer tight clean terminals now new alternator works fine the Bosch one that is.

I think what everyone is missing in this post is that Autozone does not completely rebuild their alternators voltage regulators are never replaced with Duralast alternators witch is the constant failure within less then hours-minutes of installation it shows its true charging colors. Trust me I do not frequent Autozone LOL at all... This was sorda of an emergency purchase a couple years back as the closest store. Not sure if I added this or not to the posts above but Duralast alternators have a really high failure rate as I have had two of them fail right off of the shelve. The problem is they test them before you buy them its just a quick test nothing serious they test fine you go to install them in your car within hours-minutes of operation its a faulty alternator every single one I had fail was voltage regulator failures including the two that tested bad right off the shelve and two bearing failures.

Please NOTE if you frequent Autozone and had no problems with their parts you must of NEVER tried their alternators trust me its a real treat! A real value too at 88 bucks isn't it? A real hit and miss takes 5 bad alternators to find one good one LOL.

Do you consider their parts racing stickers that add 10HP per sticker? Don't forget the new found sensors that surprisingly adds a whooping 20HP! O.M.G not to mention their specialty tapes-wraps that claim to add a boat load of HP ahahaha you'll be flying through town eating V8's looking hawt as shit with a big blue cloud of smoke behind you LOL......

Bosch one now charges at 14V reading at the alternator and 13.8V at the battery does that sound normal-fine? It also takes a load much better I can have heater blower, rear defrost, headlights with high beams all on and it charges at 12.8-13.2 at idle then back up to 13.8 while driving witch seems pretty normal to me at least with all of the cb7s I've had with OEM alternators. Where as the Autozone alternator would charge at 11.6V-12V with the same load and whine like a bitch while doing it LOL.

So end result I think were all good now in hopes 14V at alternator and 13.8 at battery is a normal system ill have to check out my other cb7s at a later date. Thank you everyone for all of your help and ideas as the BIG 3 may be held off for now but will be done at a later date

[F22Chris]

Kev, once you do the big 3, the voltage at the battery will go up. In the meantime clean your grounds. I have yet to do the big 3 myself, but just cleaning the grounds got me from 13.6 to 13.8/9 volts. My ground wires a corroded though, which is probably the culprit.

[Kev1990]

So you think just cleaning all visible grounds would help? I don't mind jacking up the car and doing every ground on the car but it would have to wait til next week I think ima just do all easy access grounds for today then finish it up next week. Thanks for the tip Chris not sure if it will help me though because my grounds are in pretty good shape.

[DGOfTheCentury]

I make it my goal not to buy Duralast. My alternator is a 170amp Load Boss..got it from the bay, works like a charm. Congrats on the fix.

[Kev1990]

Thanks man. Alternator-charging system works great now but here's the latest issue. The pulley down by the timing belt cover is wobbling for the alternator I did notice the odd sound it sounds like it's hitting the timing belt cover or the power steering pulley. Never had to deal with anything like this I did have the alternator belt a little too tight loosened it not as bad but still a wobble at idle and noise. What can I do to fix the wobble how is it tightened? I have no experience on this part of the engine lol.