flatback2 Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Coming home from a wedding last night, radio got some static and then the Eldo lost power. Had to get towed. Pulled out the Diehard Gold that I purchased 30 months ago and took it to Sears this am, told them charge it and test it. Battery dead and I got a new Diehard. Car started right up with the new Diehard, volt meter is reading 12V and 11.5 when stressed with A/C , lights, wipers, etc. In the old days you use to be able to disconnect the battery with the car running to check the alternator (if the car still runs the alternator is good). Tried this and the car died when the battery was disconnected. Either way I will get it checked tomorrow. Just wondering if that old test (disconnect of the battery and the car runs) is still a good way to check if the alternator is good on a 98 Eldo ETC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidson5125 Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 don't ever ever ever disconnect battery's on newer cars the surge from the regulator on the alternator going wide open will fry everything on your car. With system cranked and nothing turned on except for engine voltage should be at least 13.5 at battery if it is around 12 or less your alternator is not charging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatback2 Posted April 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 nothing fried, 11.5 volt, must be bad alt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidson5125 Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 make sure battery terminals are clean because your car has two hot terminals at battery one of them comes straight from alt i believe, but more than likely bad alt 11.5 volts means alt is not charging at all and I feel for you because changing the alt is very difficult on this car it was a royal pain in the a** on my Eldorado had to remove the radiator to be able to get to it... keep us posted on your progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carvone Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Your alternator is toast, think they are around $130. Have fun putting it in, hardest car I have ever done it on, simply because there is no room to get the freaking bolts out. With a new battery and new alternator, the DIC should read 14.2V or so at start up then around 13.5V while running. Low 13's with the lights on at night. This is a good time to check your belt....before you go to the parts store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Yeah, it does sound more like the belt is slipping than an alternator. Bad alternators usually show no output or a lot of noise on the line, not a steady low voltage. My battery cable (1997 ETC) originally had three cables sandwiched in the read terminal: one for the car (to the Maxifuse block behind the air cleaner), one for the alternator, and one for the starter. I got a new battery cable some time ago, about 2005, and I believe that it has one terminal with all three cables crimped together. I don't know when they changed, but it was before 2005. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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