Something electrical and strange happened to Connie on the way to work today.

Connie

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Just checked it; 12.7v with car off, 14.5v with engine running, doesn't change much no matter what I turn on or off, or what RPM I'm at....seems like it is working properly at the moment, but I definitely don't trust it now.
 

Connie

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Agreed. Maybe somethings loose?

14.5 is a bit on the high side, but within spec. I just redid the battery connections last week, they are definitely ok. The power wire is tight on the alt, and everything is plugged in tightly. But there is no doubting that that burnt electrical smell came from the alternator. I put my nose right up to it and took a big whiff this morning when I first checked it, and it almost made me gag. Now the smell is fading but still there, and the car is working fine again....about to head 100km home. Wish me luck!
 

SupraGuy

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14.5V is barely within spec, but usually not a problem, so long as it stays there, which it sounds like is happening.

It is normal for the voltage to drop somewhat at idle. this is because there's less mechanical power present to draw from, so the amount that the alternator draws drops accordingly. Sometimes this doesn't happen with minimal load, but turning on the headlights and heater fan to full should drop the voltage.

If it doesn't, and is overdrawing, then you will be burning a lot more fuel than you should otherwise need. It can also damage the battery, and you'll get a strong sulfur odor from it if it's overcharging. Overcharging problems are typically the voltage regulator failing.
 

Connie

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No sulfur smell yet, and the burnt electrical smell hasn't come back, either.

Checked again when I got home last night; with everything on (wipers on high, stereo cranked, lights on, 4-ways on, and my girlfriend opening and closing the windows/sunroof and moving the power seat back and forth) , I'm at 14.3 at idle. As soon as any throttle is given it's between 14.45 and 14.52. If everything is not on, it sits right around 14.5 at idle and at 3500rpm.

I'm riding around with a spare alternator in the toolbox in the trunk right now as I didn't have time to install it last night. The last 250km I drove last night and today were perfectly normal, though. Car felt the same as always.

I did have a sporadic issue with the car last winter when it was really cold outside, like colder than -10 C. All of the warning lights would come on and basically the cluster would act like the key was in position 2 and not running, even though I was driving down the road perfectly normally. That went away when I redid the battery terminals months ago, so I had assumed that was what was causing that too, but maybe it's been the alternator all along.

The weekend is coming, so I'll get it swapped hopefully tonight or tomorrow.
 

Connie

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Got a spare alternator installed over the weekend; 13.6 when running, pretty much regardless of RPM or what's on. And no bad smell. The replacement was still shiny and even had a Carquest sticker that still looked brand new. It came out of my silver parts car which has ended up having an amazing bounty of recently-replaced parts. Definitely got my $200 worth out of that one.

I really wanted to open up the old alternator to see what the hell happened in there, but the two halves of the housing are held together with tiny e-torx screws and I don't have the right socket or bit to open it up. Maybe I'll put those on my Christmas list.

Think I'm good to go, If I ever get that alternator open, I'll post up what I find.
 
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