robfaraway

I got a rebuilt alternator from Burnaby Auto Parts. A great little shop, dirt cheap prices, good service. Cost was C$130. Next nearest was $180, and then over $200. He doesn't have much stock, but can get stuff in in a couple of hours. Beats heck out of Canadian Tire, who told me they could get me an alternator sometime after New Year's Day, for a whole $20 less. Works fine, and the funny noise has also gone away. I thought it might be the alternator, now I know it was. 3 phase motors make strange sounds when they lose a phase. I guess it makes sense that an alternator would too, if it loses half a phase (one diode blown). Thanks for all replies.

I would check the amperage output, except I have no tools available here. My good ammeter is 800 miles away, and my nephew's VOM can only handle 250mA tops. Not going to cut it here. So, the dealer should have a new rectifier assembly?

Rob fromTerrace here, using my Mum's computer, 800 miles from home (and tools!). No problems on the drive down, and no problems on Christmas Eve, driving around doing the last minute shopping. But come Christmas Day, the battery on the Loyale (93, SPFI, 5 spd) was as flat as a pancake. I got a jump start, and drove it around for about 10 minutes, and it seems to be OK. I borrowed my nephew's little analog VOM to do some basic charging checks. There is about 20 mA of current draw with everything turned off. This seems quite a reasonable number, enough to keep the memory in the radio, clock and engine management system fired up. Alternator output at fast idle is 14-15 VDC, as expected. The strange thing is there is also 30 VAC present! Do I have a diode gone? Perhaps it shorted initially and drained the battery, and now has burned out completely, so there is all that AC showing up? Any ideas would be welcome. Anyone near Coquitlam with an alternator I could borrow to test, and maybe buy? Rob.