Alternator woes...

[BimmerWill]

Okay some of you may remember me posting a while back regarding my alternator going out, I didn't have the money to buy a new one so I took it to a shop to have rebuilt.

Long story short I ended up having to take it back to them on 3 separate occasions because the alternator was still not properly charging. Finally I got fed up and took it to another electronics rebuilder who my father knows personally. He took it apart and turns out they never replaced the original regulator. He ordered one and put it in. Well today I got the now rebuilt alternator back in the car.

I crank it up and immediately have a rough idle with blips on the rpms. I think no big deal its been sitting and im a little low on fuel so I take it up the road and it is still not running right, no power, idle wont hold consistent. When I came to a stop the car completely died on me (never done this before entire 4 years I've owned it. I crank it back up and make it to the nearest gas station and put some gas in it.

Still doesn't resolve the issue so I brought it back home. Whats weird is that the car was running perfectly fine before even when I was having trouble with the alternator charging in the first place but now it has a completely random poor idle with the motor dying (has happened 7 times tonight). I took everything back apart to see if I didn't hook something back up but everything is how it should be.

My question is if this new alternator is not charging correctly will it make the car behave this way? The red light hasnt come back on but it's still jumping around with voltage according to the OBC. Most of the time charging at 13.9 but sometimes dropping down to low 12's but the light doesn't come on.

I'm completely at a loss as to whats going on with this thing any help would be greatly appreciated!

[alexandre]

I'm going off a tangent here, but I'd double check the pulleys and belts to make sure everything is tight and properly arranged together.

[BimmerWill]

Ill double check it tomorrow. I've given up on it tonight. Been a long day at work and im at my wits end with this thing. It is for sure running rich but I have no idea why.

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[Newjack]

Cars take a lot of power to keep running, and when that power isn't met weird things happen. Sounds like the alternator.

A little over a year ago I was at work (parked on a hill) and my car wouldn't start. I thought I needed a jump, so I got someone to jump my car. Still nothing. Now I had lights on in my dash and stuff would work, but my car just wouldn't crank, so I thought it was the starter going bad, since I still had power.

I get to coasting down this hill a little, dump the clutch in first and start the car. Car is now running but my battery light is on, so I try to drive it home. During my drive home, my battery light was staying on, and at one point my gauges just stuck. Like 2k rpms and 20mph at a red light stuck. A couple seconds later the car beeps and me gauges all reset, it was really weird.

So I get home and check my battery and its only showing something like 9 volts, so obviously one of the cells went bad which is why I still had power but couldn't start the car. Essentially my alternator was going into overdrive trying to charge the cars basically dead battery during my very short trip home, and because there wasn't the right amount of voltage, my car was being really strange.

Long story short, sounds like the alternator. Go ahead and check your battery to be sure, but my guess is on the alternator.

[kayger12]

Double check belts and electrical connections.

Then I'd have the battery tested.

If those check out, it would seem to point back to the alternator.

These cars are damn finicky about electricity. Those fluctuations in output you're seeing on the OBC are enough to cause the symptoms you're seeing methinks.

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[BimmerWill]

Okay I unplugged the maf and it runs fine. The idle is a little high but it runs. Kinda weird that it decided to go out now but that seems to be what it is. Alternator is charging 13.9 consistently.

Do these symptoms point to a bad MAF? I took it off last night and cleaned it with MAF cleaner so I know it isn't dirty...

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[kayger12]

Hmm. Yeah, bad maf would do it. Strange timing.

If any members live close to you, a quick swap of a good maf will tell you for sure.

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[BimmerWill]

I don't think there is anyone close. I hate to shell out that much cash but my intake hoses are pretty much new so I don't think its that.

I just think its odd that it would choose to fail now.

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[Newjack]

If your MAF went bad wouldn't it throw codes though? Do you have an SES light?

[BimmerWill]

I did have one. Checked them and it came back with misfires all 6 cyllindors as well as fuel trim too rich for bank 1 and 2.

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[BimmerWill]

Fixed it!

Turns out lower intake boot had slipped off TB when I was installing the air box. Running fine now.

If only I knew why the alternator was still not working properly above 2.5k but works at idle. Guess the new regulator is no good too. What's strange is the light doesn't come on any more even though the obc is only showing around 12.2

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[kayger12]

Good catch. Glad you found it before you bought a new MAF.

[BimmerWill]

Good catch. Glad you found it before you bought a new MAF.

Amen to that!

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[BimmerWill]

Well the alternator is still giving me problems after a new regulator. Anytime the car gets above 3k it stops charging according to my obc but the red battery light is no longer coming on..are there any fuses or busses I can check to make sure something else isn't wrong or does it all just point at the regulator?

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[etomori]

Did you check your battery? There is a mention that one cell had low voltage. I have had problems with a bad alternator which lead to a dead battery and symptoms like you have described. Replaced it with a rebuilt Bosch and the car ran right. Your dialog does not exactly mention checking/replacing the battery as was suggested by another blogger.

[BimmerWill]

Battery was checked and rechecked just forgot to state it.

Bit the bullet and bought a WPS (world power systems) replacement through the second guy who rebuilt it running me $220...if I had known what I do now I would have just bought the new one to begin with as by now my grand total comes out to right at $400 not to mention all the time and gas it was taking the old one on and off about six or seven times.

On the upside I can swap an alternator in and out in about fifteen minutes now lol....

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