1996 caddy sts charging problems

[kevinray]

Does anyone know if certain alternators vary from same year cadillacs? My friend and I put on an alternator and we then noticed that ALLDATA says that Caddy sts that has KG9 on its parts list on the rear tire cover takes a CS 140 GEN II amp, anyone heard of this? I still get service charging system when running the ac on high. Live in Houston, Texas and it is hotter than %@*&, do I need a different alternator

[franey]

IN 96 they made i believe 2 alternators for sls and sts, now i can not speak for other models, but when i changed the one on my sls ,out they brought out 2 different alternators. One had an additional wireing harness that came with the alternator , the other was like mine and was your normal hook up. Now do not take this as the gospel, but the parts person said he was told that the other one went on cars that had the heated windshield. THE one with the additional wiring would not hook up , so their is no way you could get the wroung one, Now for your problem, IF you have not put both new battery cables on i would start their , those cables are bad about corroding on the inside where you can not see it, will cause havoc with your charging. If your battery is in between 30 and 36 months old , i would replace it too. A battery gets to a point that it will start not taking the charge.

[motor_car]

If you see the trouble with a/c on only, I would look for a slipping belt, bad tensioner, that kind of thing. I guess that the extra drag from the a/c compressor makes the belt slip.

Cheers

[timokon@yahoo.com]

Several years ago, I had a COMPLETE top end rebuild on my 85. Soon after, started having intermittent charging and cooling problems. Charging problems at idle/low speed, and cooling problems at highway. Turned out that the air pump pivot and lock bolts were never snugged up, so at high speed, the (slightly) loose belt was going right by the water pump pulley, so water wasn't circulating thru the radiator properly, but the alternator WAS turning enough to produce sufficient amperage. At LOW speed, the alternator was NOT pushing enough juice, but the water flow was sufficient. Of course I fould all of this out AFTER I replaced the radiator and alternator, and still had the same problems.

Another possibility is a faulty regulator in your new alternator. Certainly wouldn't be the first time that a new or rebuilt part was defective.

Good luck ! Keep us posted.

Tim

[JasonA]

My friend and I put on an alternator and we then noticed that ALLDATA says that Caddy sts that has KG9 on its parts list on the rear tire cover takes a CS 140 GEN II amp, anyone heard of this? I still get service charging system when running the ac on high.

That's correct. "KG9" is the RPO code for the 140-amp alternator. I've never heard of a modern Northstar Cadillac that DIDN'T come with that one, but it's possible. Check your tire tire cover for the code KG9. If you have a different K code (maybe KJ5 or something else like that), let us know and we'll try to find out which one it is. But if you have KG9, it's the 140-amp CS alternator.

Take the vehicle to whereever you bought the alternator and have them test it. They should be able to test the alternator and put a load test on the battery. It's possible that you could have a bad alternator right out of the box. If you bought a house-brand rebuilt unit, that's a good possibility. I only trust AC-Delco parts, even their remanned alternators. They're very stout. In fact, my car has one (AC-Delco remanned, installed by dealer under previous owner), and it's been on there for years and years.