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84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

posted by  someone claiming to be imthepilot on  Tue Dec 14 10:54 CST 2010 [RELATED]

Hi,
Title says it all. Every two years, "brownie" (my volvo) claims another 70amp autozone alternator. This time, after replacing it, the car is not charging.

Every time I try something different or disconnect a bunch of stuff and take it back to autozone and have them load test it, they say "yup, seems to be charging fine" and without fail, the gauges stop working before I get home and usually the car starts sputtering because the battery is dead - with or without headlights/heater/fuses in or on.

I suspected the alternator (about a week ago, before replacing it with current one), because the car was losing power with headlights and heater - the alternator just couldn't keep up. If I sat and let it charge, then drive, it'd be fine, but the old alternator just couldn't keep up. On a long drive from Knoxville to Nashville, I had no problems after about an hour of fiddling with it - next day problem is back.

For good measure, I had the less than a year old diehard battery cycle tested at sears - it checks out.

Obviously there's something wrong with the new alternator?

The last thing I'm going to try before taking it to someone is replace the charging lead off of the alternator. But I have to charge the car back up to make it over to autozone.








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    84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

    posted by  jon_h on  Wed Dec 15 04:35 CST 2010
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 11:57 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    I'd test alternator output to be sure but sounds like the drain is the problem. Exciter wire or something else. You can check the drain from terminal to connector.

    Power door locks have often be the problem on my cars








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    84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

    posted by  timmins on  Tue Dec 14 11:53 CST 2010
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    last visit: Sat Nov 12 11:25 CST 2011
    [RELATED]

    Firstly, I have zero confidence in Autozone's testing abilities. They tested an alternator of mine (off the car), and promptly failed it. Turns out the alternator was fine... my charging issue was down to damaged insulation, that old 200 series issue.

    So, how are the dash warning lights behaving? When the ignition is on but engine off, is the alternator light on? Are the lights dim? If so, I strongly suspect the wiring. It's really not a big deal to fix, there's a harness repair kit from IPD for about 20 bucks. You could be encountering an intermittent issue, that might only become apparent during driving because of vibration, varying load, etc.








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    84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

    posted by  dinomartino on  Tue Dec 14 11:46 CST 2010
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    last visit: Fri Oct 24 04:43 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    If the alternator is known to be good, look at the wiring next. I assume AutoZone also tested your battery and confirmed that it was in fact still able to take and hold a charge.

    You have a 1984, which is during the bad wiring harness era. Has your harness been replaced? Stuff could easily be shorting out inside the harness cover as the old insulation decays.

    What is the condition of your battery cables?

    What is the condition of the small blue ground wire coming off the alternator? Check integrity of the wire itself, as well as confirming that connections on both ends are clean and tight. I had one where the copper wire was broken all the way thru inside of intact insulation.

    John








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      84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

      posted by  JimN696 on  Tue Dec 14 12:07 CST 2010
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      last visit: Mon May 6 17:14 CST 2013
      [RELATED]

      I second the idea of checking the ground wire. I ran a separate ground to one of the water pump mounting bolts just to make sure.
      --
      http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid








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        84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

        posted by  someone claiming to be imthepilot on  Wed Dec 15 01:54 CST 2010 [RELATED]

        Wiring history
        Thanks for the suggestions guys. This 84' has had the harness replaced multiple times over its existence. We've owned it since new and I believe the last harness was put in about 10 years ago.

        I do remember patching some wiring about 5 years ago (when I was 15) underneath the front of the engine. It ran right by the bottom extreme of the timing belt cover. I'm assuming based on where the wires from the alternator run (from what I can see with splash pan on) this is the alternator charging wire.

        An update to the symptoms

        Threw it on the battery charger last night with the cables still hooked up to the battery. 6 amp charge for about an hour (thought I was going to have to drive it) but then knocked down to 2 for the rest of the night (about 12 hours). Went out to start it this morning and the thing was dead as a door nail.

        I'm going to disconnect the battery and if it charges I'll replace all the wiring to the alternator.

        something is draining this battery even with the car off

        Dash lights

        The dash lights are all equally dimly lit. The alternator lit no more that the others. It's very dim and can't even be made out in the day light.

        New wiring for the alternator

        I'm going to check and see if autozone has any wiring for the alternator. In the past I haven't had much luck finding larger gauge braided wiring anywhere. Is a newer volvo at the junkyard a cheaper and better bet? I'll also be sure to run a new ground. Maybe that's what's killing these things. The ground wire is pretty skimpy, and I really don't think it's original.








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          84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

          posted by  imthepilot on  Wed Dec 15 01:57 CST 2010
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          last visit: Sun Feb 9 16:24 CST 2014
          [RELATED]

          Also, any permanent fix to this bad wiring harness? Build my own? Surely there's a better solution.








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            84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

            posted by  timmins on  Wed Dec 15 04:04 CST 2010
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            last visit: Sat Nov 12 11:25 CST 2011
            [RELATED]

            The dimly lit dash lights really point to a wiring issue like mine.

            This is the kit I used. It's dead simple. You can leave the existing wiring in place, you just disconnect the alternator and bulkhead connections, and tie them out of the way. Then run this in parallel. There are instructions with the kit.

            http://www.ipdusa.com/version.asp?strPageHistory=category&numSearchStartRecord=0&strParents=69,257,335&P_ID=3067&CAT_ID=335&V_ID=6956

            Unfortunately they're reporting these as out of stock. It would be fairly straightforward to make your own, as long as you can find the right connectors.








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            84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

            posted by  springlizard on  Wed Dec 15 03:22 CST 2010
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            last visit: Mon Aug 5 07:02 CST 2013
            [RELATED]

            A friend's '86 245 had a similar battery drain that turned out to be the wiring for the central locking fuction inside the driver's door. Wiggling the wiring would cause the relay behind the dash to click repeatedly. Ended up unplugging the connector inside the door and living w/out central locking -- but the battery didn't drain overnight. Worth a look.








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              84 244 alternator replaced - still not charging 200

              posted by  imthepilot on  Wed Dec 15 12:36 CST 2010
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              last visit: Sun Feb 9 16:24 CST 2014
              [RELATED]

              Ok. So I have done a little more testing. The battery drain does not occur while the car is off. The battery drain occurs while the car is running, rather, from the car running. The problem IS that the charging system is not working.

              I went to the junkyard today and salvaged some wiring off of a 90'. I replaced the janky (but for 5 years functional) grounding on the alternator and fixed a loose ground from the negative terminal - one goes to the frame one the engine. The one on the engine was about to fall off. My repair on the positive charging line running under the engine held up (the one mentioned above). Still having some troubles with it charging though.

              For some reason, it does not want to charge running through the alternator charge line fuse box - a small single 25amp fuse. Connected directly to the battery, its fine. Not really sure what's up with that, fuse is good, connectors clean.

              I did find a bad ground today, and I'm thinking that may have ruined the warranty replacement alternator. I'm about to take it over to autozone and have it tested and maybe replaced.

              Any other ideas as to why the charging system is not working would be welcome.







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