DeckSetter

Help!! My '82 ZX N/A's jacked up again.


I've had the car a little over 2 months (put 6000 miles on it already... I've just about got my $550 worth). The alternator is brand new, I put it in when I got the car. It charged perfectly for a while.....

Then it wouldn't charge on a cold start. I'd drive a mile or two, then it would start charging. Pretty soon, it got to where it wouldn't charge until about 10 minutes after the car was running. It seemed like it got worse as the weather got colder, but that could be coincidental, I don't know.

Tonight it didn't start charging for a solid half hour. Then, when it finally started charging, I hammered it and it quit charging again!! Came to find out, when I hit a little under 4000rpms it quits charging.


So in general, it won't charge when it's cold and it stops charging at 4000rpm. Is there anything it could be other than the alternator being bad? I don't want to have to yank the alternator if there's a good chance it's something else, and I'm stuck driving my '95 Cherokee until it's fixed (and that thing drinks the gas....).

jfairladyz

What kind of battery are you running? I'd test it. Other than that check the belt and if those check out then you can get the alternator tested at autozone for free. They don't even have to take it out of the car. Just drive it down there and hope it's still not charging when you get there and they'll be able to check it for you. They can test your battery too. I'm not sure how many other parts stores do this stuff but I know autozone does. It's just about the only perk of going there. They'll test just about everything they can for free. They'll even pull engine codes for free.

lifegrddude

Where'd you get the alt from? Just wondering b/c if you got it from Kragen/Autozone, etc. those alternators are known to not last a long time. The first time I replaced mine with theirs, it lasted 2 weeks before it failed. I got the replacement for free since it's a lifetime warranty. It's been about 6 months now and it's held up. Just a thought to check the alt because they are sketchy.

jfairladyz

I had the same thing happen to me with my Prizm. I got a rebuilt alt. from Autozone and it lasted a few weeks and started crapping out again. They replaced it and it lasted for a couple years until I sold the car.

RodMoyes

There's a reason those alternators are so cheap... Cuz they're CHEAP!

Rod.

jfairladyz

Yeah I used to subscribe to the whole "Its got a lifetime warranty so if it breaks I can just get a new one. Who cares if it's breaking all the time." Yeah that lasted until you find yourself replacing parts that aren't so fun to replace Rebuilt alternators are a nice if you're a risk taker.

DeckSetter

The alternator came from Advance about 2 months ago, and the battery is from Battery Masters. I actually had the battery in my '86 Celica back when it held power steering fluid and oil, but pulled it out and put it in the Z when I got it. It was new in the spring. I'll swap the battery with the one from my Jeep when I get a chance and see if anything changes. I'll check the belt while I'm at it....