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Charging/volts issues

Sean08ssv

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Hey everyone i have a 2008 ssv ute, the past week the alternator warning has come up on my display while driving, when this happens i notice the voltage drops. I'll watch it go from 13 down to 12. It'll eventually go back up to 14volts or higher and the warning will disappear..its has now done this 7days in a row. Today i was driving and it did it again this time 11.8 volts and it came up with "service changing system" aswell as "low battery"..so i took it to batteryworld as they do free testing and the battery aswell as the alternator tested all fine..whilst doing these checks they noticed the connection from that lil black box next to the battery was only just holding onto the positive terminal as it was snapped..they fixed that..so i left not knowing whats going on with my car..did a 20min drive and no warnings this time..volts went from 14.7 when first started down to a steady 12.8/12.9 i did a load test when i got home turned everything on and it dropped to 12.5 still no warnings. left it for 3-4mins then turned everything off and volts started climbing to 14 which tells me the alternator is working...has anyone else had these issues?? Cos im stumped and not keen on spending alot of money on a alternator or battery without being sure whats actually going on..
 

07GTS

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a poor connection can cause dramas if it's fine now with no faults showing up id just leave it
 

Sean08ssv

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a poor connection can cause dramas if it's fine now with no faults showing up id just leave it
Yeah well i went to the shops before and the alternator warning came on and volts went down to 12 and stayed there. Started it up when i left and it went upto 14.7 and stayed at 13.9 till i got home..it happens randomly almost every time i drive
 

Sean08ssv

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I might add ive had my ute for almost 5 years now and havent had a single problem apart from a dead battery which i replaced prob 3 yrs ago..
 

07GTS

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usually if it's the battery the alternator will charge all the time to compensate for the poor battery so could be the alt, need to see what alt duty v requested duty is
 

Sean08ssv

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usually if it's the battery the alternator will charge all the time to compensate for the poor battery so could be the alt, need to see what alt duty v requested duty is
Not quite sure what you mean, how do i figure that out? Do you mean find out how the alt works?
 

07GTS

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because the alternator is controlled by the ecu it monitors the load in and out of the battery, if u can monitor the generator F and L terminals then u can see if the ecu is requesting the lower charging or not and so if it is then its all ok but if its requesting say 80% and the alt is putting out 10% then it could be the alt at fault, any further then this starts to go aver my head i do my own tuning so can log all this stuff but i havnt had an issue with the alt yet to see what happens when it faults
 

Sean08ssv

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because the alternator is controlled by the ecu it monitors the load in and out of the battery, if u can monitor the generator F and L terminals then u can see if the ecu is requesting the lower charging or not and so if it is then its all ok but if its requesting say 80% and the alt is putting out 10% then it could be the alt at fault, any further then this starts to go aver my head i do my own tuning so can log all this stuff but i havnt had an issue with the alt yet to see what happens when it faults
Ah yeh im sure how to do that. Do i hook a multimeter up to this wires? L is red yeh and F is grey?
I just started it and everything was fine, 14volts. Load tested it, everything was still fine. Left it idling for 15mins. Alt wanring come on, volts dropped to 11.8 so i turned everything on high beams, ac etc.. to see if it would stall but volts jumped up to 13...warning eventually went off and on then off...its doing my head in now. dont wanna drive and have it stall could be dangerous...
I guess im gonna have to just take it to holden. So not keen cos ive seen how they treat customers cars...plus the money involed..either that or i buy a refurbished alt for 150 and mechanic said 150 to install so $300 gamble...
 

07GTS

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the L and F on these is in the data from the ecu to the bcm to control the charging, at first start it will charge at 15v that is to recoup the lost load from cranking then after 10 or so mins it will decide what to do, if battery is good then it is sounding like alt and 300 isnt too bad for a test but make sure its the correct alt alot of people get the non ecu controlled ones and they dont work right and hold onto your old one too just encase
 

Sean08ssv

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So its still happening kicked in and out this morning to work after about 15min it stayed up at 13.9 for last 20mins of driving and warning stayed off...i booked it into holden for Thursday and they want $165hr to look at it..personally i think that's way to much..but i guess it has to happen..so ill update once i know considering there so many threads no one else has followed up with the same issue
 
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