05
May
Improperly jump-starting the vehicle can send a surge through the battery that destroys one or more cells in the battery or shorts it out. Well now you know that a dead alternator is a threat to the car batteries electrical device electrical current and overall performance.
Connect the clamps or leads of the voltmeter to the battery.
How do you know if your alternator is overcharging. Without the alternator the battery will eventually discharge. However if the alternator isnt working correctly it may send too great of a charge to the battery which is known as overcharging. This condition is dangerous to your cars battery and electrical system.
You can test to see if the alternator is overcharging using a simple voltmeter. If your battery keeps overcharging then its the alternators problem if its a stock alternator it should be eligible for the manufacturers usual 5 year. How do you know if your alternator is overcharging.
Symptoms of Your Car Alternator Overcharging. Car Battery Voltage Gauge Reading is High. You notice a high voltage reading on your cars vehicles dashboard.
Car Battery Gets Hot When Charging. Your Headlights Burn Out Quickly. Your Car Battery is Bulging on Sides.
How do I know if my alternator is overcharging my battery. You can test to see if the alternator is overcharging using a simple voltmeter. Start your vehicle and open the hood.
Locate the vehicles battery. Turn the digital voltmeter on and adjust it to the proper settings if necessary. Connect the clamps or leads of the voltmeter to the battery.
Alternators that overcharge will typically produce excess voltage to the battery making the battery case swell up become very hot and lose its electrolyte through boiling. Improperly jump-starting the vehicle can send a surge through the battery that destroys one or more cells in the battery or shorts it out. If the radio continues to whine or goes fuzzy when you press on the accelerator pedal the alternator could be the issue showing that your alternator is bad.
Step 4 Find An Auto Store. To determine if your alternator really is the issue you should try to find an auto parts store that can test your alternator free of charge. If you are getting more than 2 volts above base voltage most likely your alternator is over-charging the battery or the battery is faulty.
Other potential problems are a faulty voltage regulator or a problem in the charging system wiring. Why is my alternator putting out 16 volts. For some alternators its normal to see as low as 13 volts.
I do not know about Hondas but Toyotas last 60k to 150k miles. I have heard of a few up in the 200k miles The problem not fixing it is you will cook your battery by overcharging it. You are correct 18 volts is much too high but an alternator can not cause over-charging unless it is assembled incorrectly with one of the brushes grounded through its mounting screw.
Over-charging is caused by the voltage regulator driving the alternator too hard. Theres two possibilities for this condition. What are the symptoms of an overcharging alternator.
An overcharging alternator can lead to headlights and tail lights prematurely blowing out alone or in tandem. Other burnout symptoms of an overcharging alternator are repeated blown fuses dash and interior lights blowing out and lights becoming extremely bright when engine speed increases. On the other hand any number more than that indicates its overcharging the 12V battery.
In both cases it drains the long-term battery life. Signs of A Bad Alternator. Well now you know that a dead alternator is a threat to the car batteries electrical device electrical current and overall performance.
But how do I know if my. If the alternator is putting out too much voltage 15 volts it is likely your battery acid will boil over out of the battery. How do you know if your alternator is overcharging.
You can test to see if the alternator is overcharging using a simple voltmeter. Start your vehicle and open the hood. Locate the vehicles battery.
You should be concerned if the vehicle makes squeaking or rattling noises. The car can still run for months or break after a few days. What can happen if your alternator is overcharging.
Alternators that overcharge will typically produce excess voltage to the battery making the battery case swell up become very hot and lose its electrolyte through boiling. First the battery delivers a jolt of electricity to the starter. If the engine starts but dies immediately your alternator probably isnt keeping your battery charged.
If a jump starts and keeps your car running but the car cant start again off. For some alternators its normal to see as low as 13 volts. For some a constant 136 volts is an indication of a problem.
For others its normal to see as high as 16 volts for long stretches. Still its perfectly normal for others to see the alternator not charge at all intermittently. Okay I would replace the connector.
It is called a pigtail. You can get it at a parts store. It will have the wires in it already and all you have to do is join it to the harness.
Make sure you solder and shrink wrap the wiring. Do not use butt connectors. From there you would want to look at the readout from your multimeter to determine if its overcharging the battery.
If you have a reading of over 146 volts 148 volts or above then the battery is being overcharged. A reading anywhere from 136-146 volts means your alternator is functioning properly. The alternator relies on the voltage regulator to know how much electricity it needs to generate.
If the voltage regulator is broken the alternator will most likely generate too much electricity thus overcharging the battery. Poor battery conditions on the other hand can break healthy alternators as well. I suspect that the reason the previous alternator was overcharging the battery was because the previous owner installed a bigger alternator to power the bigger stereo system.
But without the amp and sub this bigger alternator overcharged the system. Now that theres a smaller alternator Im slightly undercharging. So when the alternator stops working then the batteries die as it has stopped charging.
Do check that the alternator you are using is correct for your car battery and not working at a very high pace and causing overcharging. Replace the charger if it is faulty. This costs as low as 8.