ChiprZ Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Some of you may remember a bit over a month ago my alternator was stuffed and wasnt charging my battery. I changed the alternator and had it checked out to make sure it was charging the battery and sure enough he assured me the problem was fixed. Today my car died again and i got the RACV out again to check out my car and once again my battery isnt charging because of the alternator. I have to wait till the morning to speak to a mechanic but can anyone think of any reasons as to why 2 alternators would die over the space of about one month? Surely there is something that is killing it. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambs Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Are you sure it's not regulator related ?? Some of you may remember a bit over a month ago my alternator was stuffed and wasnt charging my battery. I changed the alternator and had it checked out to make sure it was charging the battery and sure enough he assured me the problem was fixed. Today my car died again and i got the RACV out again to check out my car and once again my battery isnt charging because of the alternator. I have to wait till the morning to speak to a mechanic but can anyone think of any reasons as to why 2 alternators would die over the space of about one month? Surely there is something that is killing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeddophile Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 How is the battery? If the battery is ratshit, it can lead to the alternator showing a low charge rate. Check the electrolyte in the battery for level and cloudiness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiprZ Posted March 11, 2006 Author Share Posted March 11, 2006 Battery is one year old (not even) and RACV checked the fluid etc in it and said the battery was fine. I havent actually checked myself but i might do that. Lambs, how do i see if the regulator is any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambs Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Do you still have the original mechanical regulator, or has it been replaced with a solid state reg ?? Battery is one year old (not even) and RACV checked the fluid etc in it and said the battery was fine. I havent actually checked myself but i might do that. Lambs' date=' how do i see if the regulator is any good?[/quote'] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_hl Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Bit of an old post but I just tried to start my ZX then and it appaered the battery hadn't been charged. I bought the new battery on sunday (6 days ago) so i figured the alternator must be buggered. Was there ever a solution to this problem? somone said it may have been the mechanical regulator, any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambs Posted July 8, 2006 Share Posted July 8, 2006 Bit of an old post but I just tried to start my ZX then and it appaered the battery hadn't been charged. I bought the new battery on sunday (6 days ago) so i figured the alternator must be buggered.Was there ever a solution to this problem? somone said it may have been the mechanical regulator' date=' any suggestions?[/quote'] 280ZX uses an IC reg built into the alternator. First thing to do would be to check the voltage at the battery terminals with the engine running. With a good alternator and battery it should be around 14V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChiprZ Posted July 8, 2006 Author Share Posted July 8, 2006 i ended up having the alternator re conditioned and i havent had a problem since, except the battery did die after not having touched the car for 6 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toecutter Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Every six months or so my car gets tempramental and decides it won't start. The symptom is like a bad regulator or alternator when you try to kick it over. I know the culprit is always the fusable link that is a black box that sits near the master cylinder. The black box has two wires in it that in my case are a little corroded and cause this intermittent problem. Simple to fix but I've just been lazy to change it seeing I can just give it a tap if it ever happens and problem gone! Sulio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_hl Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 thanks for the responses. there now seems to be another electrical problem as a result of the battery losing its charge due to the alternator or whatever caused that. Once i charged the battery up again, the starter motor would kick in fine and the engine would occasionaly fire once but nothing more. i then had a look at the ECU control panel and all the settings had gone spastic... most of them have a setting of '99' and the rev limiter is set to 31780. i am running a Wolf 2D as the stock ECU apparently broke sometime back when the previous owner had the car. The most logical explanation i can think of is that the ECU reset itself when the battery lost a lot of charge. but then that goes out the window because the ECU didn't go spastic when i have previously had the battery not connected to the car. any help would be greatly appreciated... -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_hl Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 i just rang the wolf place and they said if i reset the ecu it wont go back to facotry settings it will go back to nothing. and want to charge $44 for me to send it to them and for them to check if anything is wrong with it. I think what i should do is try to obtain some numbers to punch into the ecu so it will actaully start and i can drive it, and then take it to get a tune, which it needed anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.