Jeff Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Got the "Battery No Charge" message. Took the alternator to the parts house- had it checked (my trusty friend that works there was not in...) Kid put it on the bench and ran it up- "Uh... yeah it's bad. Well, give me the new one, says I. Took it home, put it on. Cranked 'er up and NO MESSAGE! It showed to be running 13.9 -14 volts I could run it up a little and it would get up to 14.1 14.2 and then back down. Everything looked good. I ran it for a bout 20 minutes or so- no change- no messages. Came out this morning to go to work- cranked it up- 11.9 volts... 11.3 volts... BATTERY NO CHARGE! Checked cables- they were good. Cranked it back up- 11.1 volts... BATTERY NO CHARGE! What else is there? The battery is only a month old. All the wiring looked good when I was making the change. Where do I go next? Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmpafford Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Take the battery into the same store and have it checked also. I am having a brain fart and cannot remember what the term is, but sometimes when batteries have run low and are under strain from a bad alternator, they can loose their ability to hold a charge. Most batteries come with a good warranty. If you don't want to waste your time checking the battery out, just return it for a new one. Sulfated!!!! That's it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 That's easy enough, I guess. I have one of those 3 year free replacement deals. Might as well... Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBuckley Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 You might want to also double check the wiring on the alternator, I can not remember if it is the L terminal or the G, that has a smaller wire and this can sometimes break or have a bad connection. Also, there have been many reports here about using aftermarket alternators and getting the No charge error, all who seemed to get this error, had to go back to a OEM alternator. John John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted May 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Thanks, John- I'll see what happens. JEff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 It wouldn't surprise me if the alternator is defective. I've had bad experiences with poor quality aftermarket alternators. It took three exchanges before I found one that finally worked in my Eldorado. In fact, two of them were defective right out of the box when tested by the Pep Boys salesperson. I also remember buying more than one aftermarket alternator for my 87 Lincoln Mark VII. I remember one of those alternators had a defective bearing right out of the box. So, based on my unfortunate experiences, a defective aftermarket alternator is not out of the question. I hope in your case it’s simply a loose wire. That would probably be the best scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted May 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I checked everything I could get to and everything looked great. That baby is going back to the parts house today! I'll keep you posted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I recall someone a while back had the same problem. Changed the alternator twice with no help. Finally Logan mentioned that the aftermarket alternators don't work well in Caddy's because there is some type of circuitry in the Delco's that is not in the aftermarket and the PCM does not recognize them. He finally installed a Delco and the problem was solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 I remember the issue regarding the circuitry is that some aftermarket rebuilds are not recognized by the PCM because they are missing something. I don't know one way or another whether that’s correct. I do have an aftermarket alternator (I believe the 4th was the charm) and it works fine so far. I stuck with aftermarket only because it has a lifetime guarantee, so I didn't give up so easy. I was told the one I have is new rather than a rebuild. So far it hasn’t conked out, yet. I did my own installation—What a PITA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 Pulling an alternator off of a N* is not a 30 minute job. After the second one in two days, the pimple faced clerk had the gall to ask "What are you pi$$ed about? It is under warranty!" (Some people are alive only because it is illegal and messy to kill them where they stand.) I "gently" explained to the lad what a PAIN in the posterior that changing an alternator on a N* is. Add that to the lost time on my part, the expense of traveling to the auto store, (20 miles round trip for me.) and the just plain aggravation of getting a "rebuilt" alternator that is junk right out of the box, TWICE, tends to interfere with my normally sunny disposition. Believe me, If it is for a N* it gets a Delco from now on. Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poopdeville Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 (Some people are alive only because it is illegal and messy to kill them where they stand.) ROFLMAO!!! Too funny... I had my Delco alternator go last summer after driving at 120 kmh towing a boat for 3 hours... the bearing was real noisy when I slowed and 5 more miles at 40 mph (60kmh) did it right in. The bearing siezed so bad the starter wouldn't turn it over... I am not sure if my less-sophisticated 4.5L is as finicky as the N* but I had a guy rebuild my actual alternator due to the fact he didn't have a replacement. I wasn't about to trust the local Canadian Tire store with a swap out due to dwindling quality in their outsource products. It works flawlessly. I lost 5 hours total including re and re time. Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Well- the survey is in: NEW ALTERNATOR IS BAD!! It was putting out abut 9.5 to 10... Buddy at the store ordered me the Delco to replace it with for same price. New one is on and working fine- went to Dallas this weekend to the Chris Botti concert (350 mi round trip) perfect trip. Thanks for the input. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 (Some people are alive only because it is illegal and messy to kill them where they stand.) ROFLMAO!!! Too funny... I had my Delco alternator go last summer after driving at 120 kmh towing a boat for 3 hours... the bearing was real noisy when I slowed and 5 more miles at 40 mph (60kmh) did it right in. The bearing siezed so bad the starter wouldn't turn it over... I am not sure if my less-sophisticated 4.5L is as finicky as the N* but I had a guy rebuild my actual alternator due to the fact he didn't have a replacement. I wasn't about to trust the local Canadian Tire store with a swap out due to dwindling quality in their outsource products. It works flawlessly. I lost 5 hours total including re and re time. Mike P You got a much better alternator by rebuilding your exixsting one vs. a chain store reman. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Well- the survey is in: NEW ALTERNATOR IS BAD!! It was putting out abut 9.5 to 10... Buddy at the store ordered me the Delco to replace it with for same price. New one is on and working fine- went to Dallas this weekend to the Chris Botti concert (350 mi round trip) perfect trip. Thanks for the input. Jeff I saw Chris Botti last week in Huntington, NY, the band he was with was AMAZING! What did you think? I got him to sign his new CD.... Seeing Keiko Matsui this week and Al DiMeola next week.... http://www.imactheater.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted June 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 I first saw Chris at the Majestic Theater in Dallas a couple of years ago. At the time, my daughter was six years old, and she got upset with me because she didn't get to go. I thought it was just a kid wanting to go somewhere with her dad .... She confiscated my CD and has carried it everywhere she goes ever since! For her eighth birthday last September, we took her to see him at LoneStar Park in Grand Prairie. If you've seen his show before, you know that he goes out into the crowd, picks out some girl and serenades her with "My Funny Valentine". Well, that time he came out and introduced himself to my daughter and played for her. That was the best birthday ever for her. He was having an autograph party at a restaurant later that night and she was determined to go get his autograph. The dtemp that day was about 108 and we had been in the sun for about 5 hours straight and when the concert was over my wife passed out with a heat stroke- so there went the autograph party. When my daughter heard he was coming back to Dallas, she went nuts- She had written him an email telling him about what happened at the last concert and she got a reply saying that he would meet her after the show. He remembered her from last September and she got him to sign that CD she stole from me two years ago! It was a pretty cool deal. She took pictures with him and he talked to her for a little bit- he's a class act, I think. He was pretty flatttered that an 8 year old was one of his biggest fans. But to answer your question- he does have a great band! When I first saw him, he had a had girl from Israel playing drums for him and she was just a good as the guy he has now! She was tough! If you have never seen her, he has a DVD of a concert he did with Sting, and she is with him on it. Hastings Records sells it if you have those in your area... He's just about my favorite, though. By the way- if you ever get to see Brian Culbertson- GO SEE HIM TOO! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted June 1, 2005 Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 Cool story about your daughter! I did see him sing My Funny Valentine to someone... I came away from his concert blown away by the sheer energy of it... Thanks for the info on Brian Culbertson, I'll check him out. Sorry folks for the OT... Jeff how is the alternator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted June 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2005 running perfectly... thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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