I have a 79 corvet that has a 383 stroker in it. I recently found that the alternator was bad. I have replaced the alternator and a new dry cell battery. I have tested both the battery and the alternator and I know that they are good. Now my problem is that the alternator still will not charge the battery. If i start the car when i jump it, it works alright but once i remove the cables the voltage on the guage starts dropping. It just wont charge. Oh by the way i cant take it to a auto repair shop becuase no one will work on a car that is over 20 years old. Where do i begin to find this problem and fix it? Any advice?
2006-06-26 18:12:22 · 11 answers · asked by John Doe 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Sounds like you have a wiring problem, you must find a guy that likes electrical work. Not for the money, but for the love of doing it. Some shops will change the end items, but don't want to tackle the tough problems, it's just dollars and cents.
Good Luck
2006-06-26 18:24:28 · answer #1 · answered by NEWBEE1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to a shop that specializes in alternator repair.
Often there is a shop that also rebuilds starters.
By dry battery I assume you mean gel like an optima.
Is the alt wired correctly. Some alt's have 3 wires some have 1.
Check the red wire to the battery. Make sure the terminals have a good connection.
Check the ground cable. Make sure the alt case is grounded-this should be grounded through the mounting bracket but paint might insolate it.
With the car off remove every fuse and jump contacts with an amp meter. If there is more than a trickle on any one of them the battery is being drained when you shut the engine off.
The alt should have enough output to run every accessory you have.
Engine size does not matter while the car is running but size and compression effect how much juice is needed to crank the engine.
2006-06-27 01:38:07 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a car that I had problems with the alternator going bad a couple times a year. They were giving me the wrong size alternator, and after I put a larger one in, it worked better. You can find a repair shop somewhere that will take cars over 20 years, I am sure. If not get on web and talk to other car owners. I am just a dumb female, but do know how to do minor repairs, and keep oil full, and tires full.
2006-06-27 01:19:08 · answer #3 · answered by Breezer_Ne 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok, you say that the gauge shows that the alt. isn't charging.
Have you put a meter on the battery to see what the volts/amps are doing while it is running?
If you know for sure that the alt. is working it could be your wiring!
I would check your wiring thoroughly! Make sure you are not losing any voltage to ground! ... This would let the battery not charge. I bet you don't have the alt. wired right! This could be an easy fix! Oh, btw... I don't know where you live but, there is a lot of mechanics in this world that ( DO ) work on older cars!
Every Garage from Virginia to Cali. will work on it!
Good luck with your car....
2006-06-27 02:02:33 · answer #4 · answered by Travelin' Man 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would try a regular car battery first to see if that was the problem, if not I would look in the yellow pages of your phone book, there has to be a repair shop somewhere in your town or close to it that works on Corvette. try speed shops that works on high performance autos. I had a Pontiac 6000 about 6-7 years ago that i was buying that kept burning up the alternator. i put that car in a couple of shops and was told that there was nothing wrong with it, yet i went through 3 alternators in less than a month, I drove the car back to the car lot and handed them the keys and got out my new battery i just bought and told them to stick that junk up their crapper. i wasn't making another payment on it. they gave me another car. but for your problem if you try to do the diagnose of the problem yourself it can get costly. i would think what i did to it that made it start having problems and change it back the way it was originally, a 79 vette is a good looking car to have to drive and not be sitting in your yard undrivable. good luck buddy with it,!!
2006-06-27 02:45:25 · answer #5 · answered by ronald r 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with the majority here. Your alternator is too small for the output needed for that size engine and accessories. Also, make sure your belt is tight. No, not the one around your waist. LOL..If the Surpintine Belt is slightly loose it can't turn the alternator fast enough to do it's job. I also agree that there has to be a "good ole boy" in your area that would love to dive into a piece of American Muscle such as yours. I know I would !!! Good Luck !!!!
2006-06-27 01:47:27 · answer #6 · answered by vettedream72 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's gotta be that alternator. I had a car that did the exact same thing and I had to go through 3 alternators to get one that worked. Sometimes those rebuilt jobs are bogus. Good luck!
2006-06-27 01:21:39 · answer #7 · answered by dmonstergirl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are using the wrong kind of battery. The alternator you are using maybe designed for the wet type, the battery that uses battery solution,so its not charging your dry cell battery !!!
2006-06-27 01:20:22 · answer #8 · answered by eltivo0210 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My advice, is you need to get a heavy duty alternator, it sounds as if you drawing way to much mower off it to begin with. with having that huge engine, you can't even get the alternator to do its job, back up the battery...there could even be ba wiring problems to. find yourself a good shade tree mechanic that loves old cars and they'd be delighted to help. because that is good ole American Horse power there pal...
2006-06-27 01:19:32 · answer #9 · answered by back2skewl 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The voltage regulator may have gone bad. Also check to make sure all grounds are properly connected.
2006-06-27 01:30:45 · answer #10 · answered by manofadvntr 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋