help, alternator or distributor?

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masta_wu

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hi, my car is losing electricity while i drive. the rpm keep on going up and down and the dash lights gets weaker and weaker and finally gets off. then the gauges stop working, vtec doesn't engage, and the finally the car gets off. it restarts whenever i boost the battery but then after a few minutes of driving it happena again.

im guessing the alternator isn't working properly or the distributor.
did this happened to any of you?
 
you COULD go spend the money and buy an alternator that may or may not fix the problem. or you could take it too the garage and have it tested, and then there would be no chance of you wasting your money on parts you might not need.
 
diagnostic said:
you COULD go spend the money and buy an alternator that may or may not fix the problem. or you could take it too the garage and have it tested, and then there would be no chance of you wasting your money on parts you might not need.
Click to expand...
alternator is running fine by looking from outside.
now i just got the voltmeter from radioshack to measure if electricity is properly generated from the alternator. because since alternator looks fine from outside, the problem could be on battery itself.

now as for the voltmeter, where do i have to set the red and black wires to? at the battery terminals or the alternator terminals? or does it make any difference?
 
masta_wu said:
alternator is running fine by looking from outside.
now i just got the voltmeter from radioshack to measure if electricity is properly generated from the alternator. because since alternator looks fine from outside, the problem could be on battery itself.

now as for the voltmeter, where do i have to set the red and black wires to? at the battery terminals or the alternator terminals? or does it make any difference?
Click to expand...
yes it makes a difference.

ALL TESTS HERE ARE PERFORMED IN DC VOLTS.
-before starting car, measure voltage at battery.
-start car, measure voltage at battery.
-turn on headlights and/or rear defrost.
-measure voltage at alternator battery lead and to the case of alternator.
-measure voltage from battery positive to alternator battery terminal.
-measure voltage from battery negative to case of alternator.
TURN MULTIMETER ON AC VOLTS.
-read measurement in ac volts between alternator battery positive lead and alternator case.

these are the only tests you can do without an AVR. do these trests and then pm me the info. it would be good if you could copy/paste the instructions i wrote with your results.
 
diagnostic said:
yes it makes a difference.

ALL TESTS HERE ARE PERFORMED IN DC VOLTS.
-before starting car, measure voltage at battery.
-start car, measure voltage at battery.
-turn on headlights and/or rear defrost.
-measure voltage at alternator battery lead and to the case of alternator.
-measure voltage from battery positive to alternator battery terminal.
-measure voltage from battery negative to case of alternator.
TURN MULTIMETER ON AC VOLTS.
-read measurement in ac volts between alternator battery positive lead and alternator case.

these are the only tests you can do without an AVR. do these trests and then pm me the info. it would be good if you could copy/paste the instructions i wrote with your results.
Click to expand...
yea that's that i exactly did and it's lower than 14. it's at about 13 and it drops to about 12.3 when the electronics are on.
i guess im gonna have to bring it to the garage and get my alternator fixed
 
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