PLEASE help!!

[chronic139]

Last night i noticed my car idleing very irregularly. It sounded like increasing then decreasing and so on.This prompted me to do a quick scan of the guages, on which I found the voltage to be below 13 (im guessing around 10 or 11). I parked it last night and went out this morning to check and it is the same. It starts without trouble. I thought maybe alternator but the sounds seem to be coming from the power steering oump. Any suggestions?? :shock:

I just recently replaced the alternator on my '94 Cutlass. Before I replaced it, the voltage on the gauge was low and the engine seemed to be whining a little more than usual. When I listened to it, I couldn't tell if it was the alternator or the power steering pump. There were two things that verified the alternator was the problem.

First, the ABS warning light had come on a couple of times. Both at night. I'm not sure if your car has ABS, but if the light has come on recently, that's a good indicator that the alternator is not charging enough. GM designed the system very well. The ABS system uses quite a bit of electricity. If the system 'notices' that the alternator is not producing enough charge, it disables itself. You will still have brakes, but not anti-lock control. This conserves power to allow the car to make it farther if the alternator has failed.

Second, I hooked up a voltmeter to the battery posts while the car was running and stopped. There was very little change when the car was started. Basically, I did this to verify that the gauge was reading correctly. Hope this information is helpful.

Tony Graczyk
'94 Olds Cutlass SL

[Anonymous]

Start your car and unhook your battery. If it stalls the alt. isn't charging.

[chronic139]

sorry, the car is a 3.4 by the way if this makes any difference. (besides the huge pain in the ass it gives me if its the alt).

[chronic139]

oh and one more question. Is there a voltage regulator on these cars?

[STR]

oh and one more question. Is there a voltage regulator on these cars?

built into the alt

[chronic139]

thats what I thought.

[Anonymous]

sorry, the car is a 3.4 by the way if this makes any difference. (besides the huge pain in the ass it gives me if its the alt).

Sorry, didn't know it was a 3.4.

[Gearhead43]

Sounds to me like it needs an idle relearn.... Try this

http://www.60degreev6.com/articles/m...eral/idle.html

[chronic139]

well it was the alt. Barely made it to work on no voltage. Spent 4 hours and almost completed. Another half or so tomorrow morning. What a bitch of a job. Hope it dont die again in my ownership of the car. Then again I plan to keep it forever so who knows.