alt not charging...need your help

fatboy4211 · Jul 16, 2011

a while back i put on a 85 amp 1 wire. due to configuration, the alt makes contact with belt but only touches about 20% of the pulley. it worked fine for 6 mos. the ac is on the same belt and one day i turned it on while driving on highway. heard the belt screeching but all went right to work. three days later i smell burning rubber and look under hood. the belt had flipped over and had a section chewed off. it finally threw it.
i replaced all and now she wont charge consistantly. the alt wasnt putting out enuff. dead battery and i tightened up the belt some more and went on. all seemed fine. NOT!
had the alt check at auto parts and all is good. still replaced it and the battery is out again. i realize the belt contact is not great, but it worked that way for six mons and no probs.

is there something else that could be cutting off the charge?

about to start looking for a serpentine donor or a set up someone has...help

patterdale · Jul 17, 2011

I can't address the "charging" problem unles it is truly due to belt slippage but, is there a way you could add an idler in combo with little longer belt positioned in such a way that you get more belt contact?

hyghlndr · Jul 17, 2011

If the car is running, what is the voltage across the battery terminals? That way you should at least know if it's charging.

Explorer · Jul 17, 2011

Why can't you change the pully on alternator? Only other thing that comes to mind, is the alternator case grounded?

fatboy4211 · Jul 17, 2011

brainstorm just hit me. not gonna fix it but at least you can see what im doing or screwing up. all brackets and pulleys are ford. the ac is a modified set up but thats where it ended up.
thought of tension set up but any idea what to hunt for.

sorry...im no artist...but im pretty good with stick people!;D

Explorer · Jul 17, 2011

Now I understand the pully contact surface. Since I don't have air i'm not sure, but thought AC was on a seperate belt along with PS.

Viperwolf1 · Jul 17, 2011

That alternator is never going to work well in that position. You might be able to use a 2 groove waterpump, crank and alt pulley and just run one belt around those three. The 2nd belt could run around all 4 pulleys.

fatboy4211 · Jul 17, 2011

obviously i never thought of that. i will take a look at that. thanks viperwolf!

Boss351 · Jul 17, 2011

If it charges ok but never really gets to say 14.5v and you have battery cables with clamp on replacement ends on them clean wire and cable end were the two connect along with the battery post and inside the connector. Everybody over looks this connection wire end into terminal. check voltage and retest all functions

fatboy4211 · Jul 17, 2011

it reads 12.0 but didnt go up to 14... its kinda like it shorts out and works only when it wants to. just wanted to know if there was anything else that would cause that.
i will check it like you said thanks

Steve83 · Jul 17, 2011

Boss351 said:
Everybody over looks this connection wire end into terminal.

Not everybody... ;D

Boss351 · Jul 17, 2011

Steve83 said:
Not everybody... ;D

not really a good idea to soldier battery connection right on top of battery. remove cable before soldiering terminals. and let me rephrase 99% off people over look the battery cable connection.

Viperwolf1 · Jul 17, 2011

fatboy4211 said:
it reads 12.0 but didnt go up to 14... its kinda like it shorts out and works only when it wants to. just wanted to know if there was anything else that would cause that.
i will check it like you said thanks

If the pulley is slipping you won't see a charge.

fatboy4211 · Jul 17, 2011

had to leave it in ennis. my dad went out to look at it and said that running it the other way would make a strecth of 30" without contact. and the radiator hose would be in the way. he said an idler arm would be necessary on either setting.

DirtDonk · Jul 17, 2011

It's possible that it worked fine before, because you had good clean pulleys without any glazing. Since the "incident" with the flipped and buggered belt though, maybe there's just enough buildup of old rubber that you can't get by with that little engagement any longer.

Not sure of course, but it's a possibility.

Paul

fatboy4211 · Jul 18, 2011

yea. very possible. but it has a new pulley. gonna try to figue it out today thanks

broncobilly72 · Jul 18, 2011

You might want to change the damper pully to a 2 grove one that would allow you two belts for running all your accessories..... maybe one for the alternator and the other for power steering and waterpump-fan. I know when I had air i had to install an idler to clear the fan pulley and keep tension.

fatboy4211 · Jul 18, 2011

ok this is what i did.
went and got a shorter belt. then i locked the ac in place. at this point the belt was snug. then i swung the alt all the way on the slotted bracket. this put more meat on the alt pulley. see pic.
then i put a volt meter on the battery
idle battery 13.64
battery while idling at 1000rpm (guess) 14.83
with ac high fan & lights on (higher rpms) 12.55

belt looks like it has more contact and definately alters the angle of the belt. did not see any slippage.

before i start another thread..........just exactly does it mean when the stock alt is a 45 amp. my new one is 85 amp and i can still get one at 130amp. just exactly what am i getting when the battery can only get about 14v charge? what does the amps do for me?
sorry for being such a pita

Viperwolf1 · Jul 18, 2011

More amps lets you run more accessories like that AC fan that is actually pulling it's amps from your battery. 12.55 V is a discharging battery. My guess is belt is still slipping at max load.

Steve83 · Jul 18, 2011

Amps is the quantity of electricity coming out; volts is sort of like the pressure. Higher voltage will push things faster & make lights brighter (until they burn out); higher amps will let you run more of them at once.

Make sure the alternator mounting bosses are clean & shiny so it gets good contact through its brackets & the block back to the main ground wire.

alt not charging...need your help

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