alternator dieing? hrmmm

[PaRaDoX]

hey, noticed my alternator hasnt been putting out enough voltage/current

tested it with a multimeter today, with the car off its putting 12.8V out of the battery

on idle it sits round 14.2V
even with sound system up

when its reved to say 3000 rpm the voltage drops around 1V, but in some cases its caused the car to stall, especially at night and because its been cold (air con/lights + sound system (2 amplifiers)

hrm yeah what kinda options do i have any way to test it further,

roughly how much would it cost to get reconditioned?
it spins fine just isnt generating enough current, ill go back out later to test how many amps its putting out...

[mouce]

I can't see why it would be working okay at idle and dying higher up in the rev range. But when mine died, instead of getting it reco'd, I just got a new one. That was $225 from Repco.

Took SFA to swap it over. Don't know about reco prices though

[maginoodle]

sounds like the regulater is playing up. get a good sparky to check it and replace it if needed. should only be about $40 fitted

[PaRaDoX]

cheers,

might be battery tho, bat went flat today after PLENTY of driving
and sitting there for 20 mins, down to 1.5V in 20 mins... while the car was off... taking it to be tested tommorrow, and if its faulty its in warranty (9 months old, 550CCA 11 plate)

so yeah ill try this first as its not gonna cost me a cent, the alternator seems to be doing its job fine at the moment, maybe regulator / bat is dead, its typical for both to die at once, ie the alternator takes out the regulator + bat due to overvolting,

oh well cheers for the help, if its not the bad ill replace regulator first, then if thats not it bite the bullet and get a new alternator... hope its not the alternator tho :S

wish me luck

[maginoodle]

yeah the reg can cook the batt or can drain it completly and it would need to be charged by a charger and not just jump started.

[PaRaDoX]

hrmmmm ok, weird, battery is at 12.6V when off
seems like the battery is ok,

is there anyway to test the regulator and do auto elecs charge much to test the alternator/regulator???