What happens if you have bad ground in your alternator?
What happens if you have bad ground in your alternator?
The alternator puts out current on the negative side into the engine block where it has to go up the negative cable to the battery. If you have bad grounds and since some computer sensors and solenoids use the engine ground to supply electrons as half the circuit, you will just have issues.
What should the voltage of an alternator be?
Connect the other lead to a good ground (the negative post on the battery is a great choice!). Your alternator should be putting out between 13.5 to 15 volts. Anything less than this, and you have a bad alternator! If your alternator is putting out this voltage, then something else is killing your battery.
Can a bad alternator kill a good battery?
Bad alternators can absolutely kill a good battery. There are two ways that it can do this. First, your alternator might not shut off and end up overloading the battery with too much voltage. Conversely, it might not charge the battery at all.
Can a bad ground wire cause a car battery to not charge?
The ground is a major part of the battery’s charging system, so assuming that you’re getting proper voltage output from the alternator wire, and the battery isn’t hashed, then you may be looking at a bad ground wire. If the ground wire is loose, then the alternator won’t deliver its full power to the battery, particularly at idle.
Can a battery be ground to an alternator?
You should maintain both ground wires. If you removed battery to chassis you would have to add engine to chassis wiring. The battery to engine wire is there to ground the alternator.
How can I tell if my alternator has bad ground?
Preform the same test with the positive side. Place the red lead on the positive battery terminal (if possible dig it into the battery post, not the terminal). Place the black lead on the bad post of the alternator. Same thing as above, if the voltage is above 0.5v then examine the positive cabling for problems.
Connect the other lead to a good ground (the negative post on the battery is a great choice!). Your alternator should be putting out between 13.5 to 15 volts. Anything less than this, and you have a bad alternator! If your alternator is putting out this voltage, then something else is killing your battery.
Where does the alternator go on a truck?
The body of the alternator is ground. The alternator is mounted on the engine and the engine should have a ground strap to the frame. From the frame there is a ground strip to the battery. That’s a long way for a ground circuit. Works fine when the truck is new but after 30+ years you’ll have all kinds of corrosion on metal parts.
