charge trek VI - 'I'm losing my mind'

[tim eh?]

Tim... gotta stop this problem!

1. Belt tensioner fault. Not tight enough would cause problem.

2. Bad ground cable at the battery and starter.

3. Bad alternator... Eliminated

4. Bad battery... ELIMINATED

5. Bad starter...

6. Bad fusible link?...

7. Instrument cluster board prone to farting.

8. Previously installed alarm system... 'fixed' but I still haven't ruled this out.
*- i think there are still some wires for this behind the stereo.

9. Engine electrical system?... brought this up once but nobody commented.
whacked ignition coil or something? I have no idea myself.

10. A/C system? ... can I defuse it?
This would be a good one... you know... i only just thought of this but there is a belt (that does work) on the a/c system (that doesn't work). i guess i might want to take that off. could that matter? also... isn't the aux fan supposed to turn on at a certain temperature? I can get it to run with direct current, I think the 2-temp switch is just fried.



Today - New Battery In. No change in symptoms whatsoever.

Tomorrow I will replace the battery to chassis and engine to chassis grounds, also the fusible link. Will check continuity from alternator casing to engine block. And I will throw in my spare white-backed cluster. Then I will check to see if it loses charge overnight, but I won't be confident of the readings for a couple of days. Guess I should redo wiring to starter... I haven't examined those really any tips? Are there kits or anything like that?

If bat is losing charge, I will suspect starter shorting out somewhere, and will install an inline fuse to see if it blows overnight.

starter is ugly, hmmmm i've replaced everything else...

Could somebody check my m20 alternator belt routing please? pic1 pic2 pic3 If I routed that wrong I will be embarrassed but so very happy. It's tight, really... it's really tight... I have tried it at different tensions and it doesn't change anything.

The main clues are whether the battery still loses charge overnight and..
***When cold the system charges fine... great ... 14.0V+ with absolutely every button pressed that can be pressed.... for the first 2-3 minutes...
then it drops off a cliff to below 12.0V and stays there. (temp guage has moved +/- 1/10th of it's range) I really have to turn everything off then to get the voltage back up but then I can run a medium load (lights, no defrost, heat on 2, radio) ok.

Your ten minute trip with all your electrical loads would tax any charging system..its that simple .Get the best battery you can get that is the proper size.See if you get the 150 amp alternator too next time

+1

Your battery was on it's way out because it isn't getting a good enough charge. The voltage dropping like it is when you've got that many things electrical running is telling you that the alternator isn't putting out enough juice to run everything and charge the battery.

Wonder how complicated it is to retrofit the battery location to the trunk?

Guys I have considered this a lot and I really am not qualified to argue this point with anyone, but it doesn't make sense to me. My old (probably 20 years old) 115A alternator charged everything fine, I would have noticed - I didn't have a problem like this all winter and I was using all the power quite a bit. Anyone have an idea how many amps a fully loaded system would use? I'm guessing 20-30 amps? but I haven't a clue really. But I don't believe that the stock charging system would be designed to operate that close to capacity even with all the buttons pushed... but maybe I'm totally wrong about this. I'm thinking about wiring an ammeter into the circuit but you have to do that in series and I wonder if I'd have to reroute a whole pile of thick wires into the dash. (not interested...) But I think with 3 different alternators and 2 batteries, if the problem was there then there would have been some variation in the symptoms, and really it does the exact same thing every time.

There is a cd changer under the seat and often an entire string quartet in the trunk so it's a no-go as far as battery relocation, as much of a joy as that would be. And still, I think putting a giant battery would just alleviate the symptom not the problem. A stock car really ought to run ok on a brand new stock battery/alternator combo, seriously, it ought to power the rear window defroster, no?

Thanks tho, please argue the other way I really appreciate your opinions!




One cool thing about all this is that even though I have some experience with musical instruments, amps, computers- that kind of thing, I'm still pretty much all newbo and I have suspected all the wiring work I have done myself since getting the car, but so far all of it has turned out to be ok. (haven't gone behind the stereo yet) Still... right now the possessed car is winning...