- Alternator testing & troubleshooting - 7 Updates
- JVC HR-S9600U VHS VCR won't play/wind - 2 Updates
| "Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney" <Snuffy-Hub-Cap@Livebait-McKinney.com>: May 22 01:18PM -0700 My 97 Ford van has an intermittent electrical problem. Testing the battery under load it seems to be OK. Connections and wires are all good. Now I suspect the alternator. It's a job to R/R the alternator in this car, so I'll really like to confirm that's the problem first. Simple checks shows it's charging and battery holding a charge, but that's when it's not acting up. Anyone know where to find a schematic of the alternate? Or a way to get it to show the problem? Most of the time, no symptoms. This is typically of the intermittent problem..... At night, with the headlights on, the lights and meter start to cycle very slightly about 2 Hz. One night I had parked and left the lights on for 20 minutes, then started the car and the battery warning light started flashing and the meter needle swinging 0-100% back and forth indicating a problem. I switched to parking light and about 5 minutes later all returned to normal. Thanks! |
| jurb6006@gmail.com: May 22 07:29PM -0700 With the car running it should have at the very least 14 volts at the battery terminals. Actually 15 volts is better and I like to see 15.5, moreso for people who are in the north and drive in the dark. You also need to know if there is an abnormal load draining the battery. This is shown by taking off one battery terminal and connecting a taillight bulb, or other 12 volt bulb to connect it. |
| jurb6006@gmail.com: May 22 08:02PM -0700 Also check and/or clean ALL connections between the alternators, battery and starter. |
| ohger1s@gmail.com: May 23 04:34AM -0700 On Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 4:19:36 PM UTC-4, Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney wrote: > This is typically of the intermittent problem..... > At night, with the headlights on, the lights and meter start to cycle very slightly about 2 Hz. One night I had parked and left the lights on for 20 minutes, then started the car and the battery warning light started flashing and the meter needle swinging 0-100% back and forth indicating a problem. I switched to parking light and about 5 minutes later all returned to normal. > Thanks! I don't remember the years affected, but Fords did have a problem with the connector plug on the alternator. If you can get to it, wiggle it while the engine's running and see if there's any affect. Modern cars (yours included) are real picky about battery damping. I've seen bad batteries cause weird problems yet still deliver enough current to spin the starter. If you have a bad diode in the alternator it can cause an AC component which drives electronics nuts. If the alternator is original it's 20 years old, so it could be dying. And as jurb pointed out, check those battery connections first and thoroughly. My wife's Jeep had an intermittent problem that wasn't solved until I cut off the old battery terminals and installed clamp on ones. When that was acting up, it would peg all the gauges and flash trouble lights. |
| Bruce Esquibel <bje@ripco.com>: May 23 11:46AM > flashing and the meter needle swinging 0-100% back and forth indicating a > problem. I switched to parking light and about 5 minutes later all > returned to normal. I don't have any answers to your questions but an opinion based on owning a 1997 Lincoln. Replace the alternator and be done with the problem. On my car it has both an idiot light and a message system which is supposed to display "check charging system" when something goes wrong. In the almost 20 years I owned that thing, neither have been of any help with nearly dead batteries or failing alternators. The way I figure it, I don't think either do anything unless you wrap the car around a light post going 90 mph. Even then, the message center may only report to "check wiper fluid level". As far as I can determine, both gauges are connected to the alternator itself, like a "go no/go" feed or sense lead. It doesn't read or care what the voltage is, or what the amps are being produced. The alternator itself has to be able to figure out something is wrong and be able to send the message. It just doesn't work. I don't know how many times I've read on the car owners message board for that model asking if it's normal that the alternator failed going 60 on an expressway when the battery ran out of juice (car dies and stalls) with no previous warning. Your "gauge" showing 0-100% is a tipoff it's the same or similar system to mine. 0-100% of what exactly? Volts? Amps? Volt/Amps? That gauge is the same as my message center for "check charging system" (which never comes on). Since the alternator is the only thing that can trigger the warning, it's the alternator itself that is the problem. I'm pretty sure Ford used that in the late 1990's, as some kind of self-diagnosting, early warning alternator that came out brain dead instead. If the lights are flickering, gauges going back and forth from 0 to 100, just replace the alternator. It's not going to be anything else. -bruce bje@ripco.com |
| "pfjw@aol.com" <pfjw@aol.com>: May 23 05:23AM -0700 On Monday, May 23, 2016 at 7:47:00 AM UTC-4, Bruce Esquibel wrote: > Replace the alternator and be done with the problem. Agreed. And as it is a "job", replace any weak links between the alternator and the rest of the vehicles. Check all connectors, and tighten them up and lubricate them with the appropriate dielectric silicon grease to prevent corrosion - and, again, be done with it! Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA |
| etpm@whidbey.com: May 23 08:29AM -0700 On Sun, 22 May 2016 13:18:41 -0700, "Snuffy \"Hub Cap\" McKinney" >This is typically of the intermittent problem..... >At night, with the headlights on, the lights and meter start to cycle very slightly about 2 Hz. One night I had parked and left the lights on for 20 minutes, then started the car and the battery warning light started flashing and the meter needle swinging 0-100% back and forth indicating a problem. I switched to parking light and about 5 minutes later all returned to normal. >Thanks! I have seen this exact behavior occur because of a bad ground. I also had a similar problem on my backhoe and it was a bad regulator. Inside the regulator a wire had come loose and was making an intermittent connection. So sometimes the charging worked and other times it wouldn't. Eric |
| yungdon2001@yahoo.com: May 22 09:53AM -0700 If the tape goes in properly but does not play due to non-spinning, how can it be fixed? This is what's been going on with my 2 vcr's. At first the tapes played, but then i tried to record and after a few seconds it stopped. Now it does not play it just says play but then nothing happens and a few seconds later it says stop. |
| Ralph Mowery <rmowery28146@earthlink.net>: May 22 01:29PM -0400 In article <d0a2035d-acd6-4180-ac21-71762f56ed36@googlegroups.com>, yungdon2001@yahoo.com says... > If the tape goes in properly but does not play due to non-spinning, how can it be fixed? This is what's been going on with my 2 vcr's. At first the tapes played, but then i tried to record and after a few seconds it stopped. Now it does not play it just says play but then nothing happens and a few seconds later it says stop. Most likely you have a broken or streached belt in the VCR. I have not looked but maybe you can get a belt kit off ebay or some other place. I bought a belt kit for one of mine,but that was about 20 years ago. Before the CD players and recorders came out. |
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