Alternator Ordered

[TransAmDan]

While driving this afternoon I notices my battery voltage on the dash never went above 12volts.
The alternator is original, perhaps getting worn out. I do have an underdrive pulley, so it's turning slower than usual on tick over, however even taking the revs up to 3k+ there is no difference in volts.
The alternator has never been changed and at 190k+ miles, its done well. It one of the lowest accessories on the block, so it's getting all the water splashes down there.

Not ruling out a bad earth, but everything else working fine. Always good to have spares. I'll send my old one away to be reconditioned so I have a spare.
Brought a new one from RockAuto at £80 for an AC delco one it's not bad at all, after shipping and taxes it's a little over £120 which still isn't bad, will be here by the end of the year, which isn't long at all.

 

[Will]

While driving this afternoon I notices my battery voltage on the dash never went above 12volts.
The alternator is original, perhaps getting worn out. I do have an underdrive pulley, so it's turning slower than usual on tick over, however even taking the revs up to 3k+ there is no difference in volts.
The alternator has never been changed and at 190k+ miles, its done well. It one of the lowest accessories on the block, so it's getting all the water splashes down there.

Not ruling out a bad earth, but everything else working fine. Always good to have spares. I'll send my old one away to be reconditioned so I have a spare.
Brought a new one from RockAuto at £80 for an AC delco one it's not bad at all, after shipping and taxes it's a little over £120 which still isn't bad, will be here by the end of the year, which isn't long at all.

The only other thing it might be other than a bad earth or connection is a loose, knackered belt, but I'd think you might hear that.

 

[AmericanThunder]

Surprised you aren’t seeing other issues TBH. Low voltages and electronics don’t mix although ODBII might be less sensitive than Canbus.

 

[saleen 192]

With no discount code from rockauto. How much was the recon??

 

[TransAmDan]

With no discount code from rockauto. How much was the recon??

I've ordered a new AC Delco from RockAuto.
They do do recon ones, but they cost more and you gotta send back your old, don't know why they cost more.
I'm going to send my old one to a local place, may be brushes, I'll keep it as a spare, if my new one last as long as my old one then its going to outlast me. Can't see I'm going to drive it another 190k miles.

 

[TransAmDan]

Surprised you aren’t seeing other issues TBH. Low voltages and electronics don’t mix although ODBII might be less sensitive than Canbus.

When the alternator died on the 89 firebird I was where the m25 joins the m26 on my way to Cambridge. Sun was coming up so turned lights off, battery level got lower and lower, would miss fire above like 3k rpm, as the battery got lower the mis fire would happen at lower and lower revs. Made the turn off for Cambridge, it was barely ticking over. Pulled over and awaited the RAC.
I was surprises how well cma car works at around 8 volts. But that was a simpler ecu than the TA. I'll have to get a propper volt meter on it.

 

[AmericanThunder]

Yeah. Those earlier cars were only OBDI, and they were basic. ODBII was definitely an improvement but Canbus much more resembles a computer network with protocols and device addressing.
I understand it’s much more sensitive.

 

[July92RS]

Its worth understanding that most ECU controlled cars from the early 90's regardless of origin have a +12 voltage in but many cases 4.5-5.0 output to sensors etc, network cars today are able to detect low volts so shut down the less important circuits