Alternator volts

[buickGN3:16]

My scanmaster shows my alternator putting out between 14.2 & 13.6 then all of a sudden its down between 10.8 & 11.7 but it dosent always do this & when it does drop it comes back up after a few mins most of the time. Signs of alt going bad or what do u guys think is going on.. Thanks


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[we4Mateo]

That's not good. Check all grounds and add a few maybe, but I bet the alt is heading south, or at least the regulator.

 

[buickGN3:16]

i just put the motor back in during the summer, i think i had that same thing going on before i pulled the motor, bad alt or regulator is my guess but i wanted a few opinions. Grounds should all be good they are freshly re-done


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[turbo nasty]

Make sure your scanmaster has a good ground as well

 

[longball]

you'll need to redo alt and regulator. If it's dropping for a few minutes at a time, get it done ASAP!!!

 

[buickGN3:16]

What u mean "redo"? Replace?


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[CS99]

Powermasters sells an alternator for our buicks with a built in adjustable regulator. If you are thinking of changing alternators, this is the way to go. They are a little pricey if you get the chrome one.

 

[buickGN3:16]

Ok thanks, atleast 140amp or a little more for some extra umph?


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[we4Mateo]

Ok thanks, atleast 140amp or a little more for some extra umph?


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More amps don't get you more "umph" extra volts do. The car will attempt to take as many amps as it needs and if your alt supplies more than the need, then extra amps will do nothing. A 120 amp alt @ 12.5 volts will be outperformed by a 120 amp alt @ 14.5 volts and all your electrical pumps and ignition and ecm will be happier even though the amps are the same.

This is why the adjustable regulator of the powermaster alt is more important than the amp ratings.

 

[buickGN3:16]

Thanks mateo, i guess i needed to understand that. I have the caspers volt booster installed too, just fyi. does anyone have a powermaster part# for this specific alt?


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[we4Mateo]

http://www.powermastermotorsports.com/gm1.html

 

[Rafs-T-Type]

354 for regular - http://www.jegs.com/i/Powermaster/713/47864/10002/-1

and 445 chrome - http://www.jegs.com/i/Powermaster/713/37864/10002/-1

 

[longball]

[quote="buickGN3:16, What u mean "redo"? Replace?[/quote]

I have an alternator with built in regulator. My friend is a wizard with that stuff so I took it in for him to 'redo' last week. He had to replace the stator in the alternator did something to the regulator.
Took 1/2 hour to do and bench tested it for and hour - all is now good. A few years back as I added things to the engine the lights would dim when I stepped on the gas and be voltage drops. He rewound
it 120 to 180 and now no more dim lights or voltage drops. Until last week - it was dropping a half volt about every 20 seconds so I had him redo it.

 

[buickGN3:16]

its the stock alt unless the original alt was replaced with another stock alt.. have to get a bank loan to afford a new one jeez luweez. Thanks for all the info guys


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[we4Mateo]

its the stock alt unless the original alt was replaced with another stock alt.. have to get a bank loan to afford a new one jeez luweez. Thanks for all the info guys


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They are cheaper now than they were when I got mine. I paid $500 and that was wholesale at the time. I'm glad JEGs carries them now at that price.

 

[buickGN3:16]

So u suggest powermaster delco version as opposed to trying to find a real delco replacement? and also is there any chance my volt booster could be causing this issue since it dosent do it evry time i drive it?


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[we4Mateo]

So u suggest powermaster delco version as opposed to trying to find a real delco replacement? and also is there any chance my volt booster could be causing this issue since it dosent do it evry time i drive it?


Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

yes and yes, but not likely. I however have never used a volt booster. I set my alt at 14.5 to 14.8 volts. The battery doesn't care for it, so I just replace that every five years and it's good to go.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Back track from the alt to the SM, w/ volt drop testing. Could be the alt is fine, but the system is dropping volts, and the SM is showing it.....
Belt slip??

 

[buickGN3:16]

Deffinaty possible chuck, just strange i've drove the car to work twice since the last time it did it & the sm showed no less than 13.5 with a load on it???


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[Nick Micale]

My scanmaster shows my alternator putting out between 14.2 & 13.6 then all of a sudden its down between 10.8 & 11.7 but it dosent always do this & when it does drop it comes back up after a few mins most of the time. Signs of alt going bad or what do u guys think is going on.. ...

No doubt that you need to replace the alt.

In the past 3 months I had had 3 alternators go out just like yours on 2 of my cars as both of them are set to 14+ volts output.

I finally gave up on rebuilds, or buying a repair kit, as Autozone has the 120 amp unit like original equipment with a lifetime warranty for $120.

My opinion is that the solid state components do not like the added output, and they give up early in their life especially since I run them at WOT and 14+ volts a lot!

With my race car, I always have a spare alternator when at the track.

As far as the Powermaster unit, they perform well, but they also die an early death when pushed at 14+ volts, so why spend 3 times the $$$?