Battery not getting full charge.

[WhiteArrow3800]

Up until last week the '93 started amazingly well. No real effort needed to hold the key in start, just turn it to start and it fires up quicker than the '01 does (not that the '01 hesitates to start either).

My brother drove it the 40 miles to school and he called me telling me the gauges were all bouncing/sweeping (as they do when the car is started except faster). It started with the tach and then all of them were bouncing, including the speedo he says. But he said the car drove fine with no issues. I figured it's another ground issue again, I may have missed something when I checked. But he calls me a while later because it won't start. But it tried to turn over and slowly died. So we figure alright so the 4 month alternator was a dud. It wasn't charging the battery back up. It was in the red according to the gauge, when it wasn't bouncing around. We've replaced the alternator twice now over the weekend and it's still not charging the battery all the way up to 14 anymore. After going through 3 alternators now, I think it's fairly safe to assume that it's not the alternator causing the issue at this point.

I hadn't even been in the car for a couple weeks until today (partly because it smells like he unloaded a cologne bottle in there, but that's a separate issue). But this morning Brennan told me it wouldn't start again, so he had to take the '01 to school (Parking Decals are on the Bonnevilles). So I went out and figured I'd give it a try before taking the truck. It was slow turning over but fired up, so I grabbed the jumper cables and went to work. The tach acted up twice on my way to work, and the volt meter only sometimes seemed to react with higher RPM. When I got to work I held the RPM up until the volt meter was at the 14 mark and shut her down. She fired right up immediately when I went to lunch.

I'd assume that when my dad and brother replaced an alternator (they each replaced one over the weekend), that at least one of them would have checked the cables. But what are you're ideas? TIA.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

How's the battery? What voltage is the alternator putting out? It sounds like the alternator is having to work really hard to keep voltage up.

Could be a short somewhere too. I'd start by checking the battery and the cables. Then try running down a short if the battery and cables check out.

[WhiteArrow3800]

Cables seem to be fine. Dad had the battery tested in-car by a friend and we had a printout from it, it was only putting out 10.47 volts and needs replacing. Took it back today for an exchange and Autozone tested it and they told me it was putting out 12.71 volts and it was fine. I argued for a minute and let me exchange it anyway, free under the warranty. Volt gauge in the car still shows in or near the red (which I'm guessing is 10v and under). The car has trouble starting randomly, but other times it starts fine.


Going nutz over this one.

[gonzo4191]

have you had the alternator tested?

[Mechanical Mike]

Connect a voltmeter to the battery. Get the voltage with the key off & again with it running. If it doesn't go up with it running then you need a new alternator. Post the voltage readings if you're not sure.

[Jrs3800]

That design of CS series Alternators like you have William should put out 14v unless under heavy load.. If you have been getting the alternators from advance or Autozone they are 100% Junk.. AC Delco would be the way to go...

12.7v for these alternators is not fine.. 14 or go home...lol

I would like to know the post voltage as well..

[ChilinMichael]

Cables play a very key role in all of this, check at alternator and at battery, make sure the connections are clean. Also check your grounds in the hood both sides. The positive terminal (side post) can corrode very quickly, I've found more-so in winter months.

[WhiteArrow3800]

I got in this morning to find an SES to add to the equation.
Just used my trusty paperclip scanner to reveal 58 - PASS Key, which is a security issue that was probably caused by this issue, but the car has started every time since the code was set today. If this code is set it would disable the fuel circuit with the wrong ignition key. I read there was an issue with the '92 PCMs and this code, but basically it says to ignore it if the car still starts. This car was actually built in late '92 soo...maybe?

Cables seemed to check out fine on both ends. Snowing/raining here so I'm not doing much right now.

Alternator was never tested directly, we naturally assumed that since the battery wasn't charging fully, it was the alternator and was just replaced 3 times through Napa.

Battery is a Duralast Gold from Autozone, first one was tested like I mentioned above. I brought the battery in to Autozone they did the test and he told me 12.71v and it was still good.

Dad had it tested somewhere else (A friend of his that runs a small shop out of his own garage.) and the print out reads:
Battery fails to pass accepted criteria and may fail to start in less than ideal conditions.
Voltage: 12.71v
Capacity: 271 CCA
Rating: 700 CCA

Starter Test
Cranking Normal
Avg. Volt 10.47
Time: 539ms

Charging System:
Ripple Problem
No Load: 14.21v
Load: 14.06v
Excessive Ripple

[jdronzek]

Im not that smart with cars as everyone knows haha, but I am smart with voltage, amperage and electricity. Test your alternators outputs and verify against your battery levels. Check cabling. I have a dual battery system on my car and a voltage controller module that I installed to work with the alternator to charge both batteries evenly. Maybe just even buy a new battery booze. good luck

[WhiteArrow3800]

Took the battery back today for an exchange and Autozone tested it and they told me it was putting out 12.71 volts and it was fine. I argued for a minute and they let me exchange it anyway, free under the warranty.

[WhiteArrow3800]

Found the problem. It was a ground issue, which was about all it could have been. Looks like the ground to the engine block managed to get a bit loose. I could see where the metal had turned white where it had been arcing. This explains how this was such a huge issue and was intermittent.

Still chasing another issue, but this one is solved and I can believe I can safely rely on the car to get me from point A to B and back again.

Thanks guys.