ok so yesterday i had to jump start my GL but rite after it started the voltage meter was way north of the 18 mark. just seconds later my stereo got fried and rite after the lil bit of smoke from the head unit the whole car went crazy kinda like in the movies after a hotwiring gone bad. the needles were jumping around the red dash lites were on and the wipers were working by themselves basically the whole car went haywire!!! can any one point me as to wat else happened besides a fried alternator?

Shorted alternator diode(s) (from failed voltage regulation?) turned your DC alternator into an AC generator.Current was flowing backwards at times,wreaking havoc.

Shorted alternator diode(s) (from failed voltage regulation?) turned your DC alternator into an AC generator.Current was flowing backwards at times,wreaking havoc.

holy crap after i killed the ignition it didnt start with out another jump. it ran fine while it was connected to the battery in the minivan but as soon as i took off the jump cables the car died. so we had to push it into the garage. rite now the car is completely dead. for a minute i thot i fried the whole car all together. but the engine idles smoothly and everything except the radio works. o forgot to mention that the lights wer very dim while it was idling at 500-1000 rpm before i stopped the engine. before i kicked dwn the acclereator (hence carbed engine) the lights were so bright that i had never in my life had seen such a bright dome light in a car. after the throttle kick down the lights got super dim.

Hopefully the bad alternator didn't damage the battery too badly also. If the battery doesn't take a good charge you are going to have to replace it also.

ok so yesterday i had to jump start my GL but rite after it started the voltage meter was way north of the 18 mark. just seconds later my stereo got fried and rite after the lil bit of smoke from the head unit the whole car went crazy kinda like in the movies after a hotwiring gone bad. the needles were jumping around the red dash lites were on and the wipers were working by themselves basically the whole car went haywire!!! can any one point me as to wat else happened besides a fried alternator?

 

Did you try yelling "The Power of Christ compels you!" at the car?

Hopefully the bad alternator didn't damage the battery too badly also. If the battery doesn't take a good charge you are going to have to replace it also.

hey i just got back from auto zone and they tested the battery to see if i could get the free recharge they offer and it turns out that the battery is shot...

forgot to ask. is it true that the alternator test at auto zone and other places they do it is not 100% accurate? cuz i took the alternator in to test and it passed. BUT i heard that sometimes it can be mis read due to bumps it takes on the way there. true or false?

when you tested it, did you leave it in the car or did you take it out?

 

if you left it in the car, did they rev the engine during the test? if not then yes it would've given a bad test seeing as most of the real *umph* comes past the normal idle rpm.

 

if you took it out and had them test it on the bench, what RPM did they test it at? same as above.

 

the voltage at idle should be at 12v sitting around 1k RPM even with a bad alternator - least i had that issue.

 

 

-Justin

Did you try yelling "The Power of Christ compels you!" at the car?

 

LMAO (at the comment, not your situation)

 

you probably shorted the diodes when you jump started the car

Edited January 1, 201016 yr by Txakura

We have told you several times that the alternator is shot but you don't seem to believe the advice. The shop didn't test for AC voltage appearently. Go ahead and put it back in and see what happens.

We have told you several times that the alternator is shot but you don't seem to believe the advice. The shop didn't test for AC voltage appearently. Go ahead and put it back in and see what happens.

hey Happy New Year . i already decided that i'm not gon tinker around with this old alternator anymore. i'm gon get a new alt and new battery cuz this battery is 4 years old and the alternator only God knows how old it is. that came with the car and we got it in 2003...

I think you are making a wise decision based on what you told us has happened already. May this year be without any break downs.