Took the car out for a ride today as I had some errands to run, and figured it was a nice day to take out the C5Z. Not long after leaving the driveway, I noticed a message flashing on my DIC, saying "SERVICE ENGINE SOON". WTH? Then I noticed the ammeter fluctuating all over the place, and as the needle settled at around 13.5 volts, I was able to clear the message, and everything seemed to be OK.
Drove up into the west side of Tallahassee to Lowe's and Home Depot, and not a peep out of the DIC. But on the way home, I noticed the ammeter started to fluctuate again, and the needle dropped down to what appeared to be 11 or 12 volts. Then the DIC flashed the message at me again. Uh oh... But yet again, the ammeter straightened out and the needle got above 13 volts. Still, making a beeline for home, just in case.
But as I got closer to home, I decided to monitor the battery/alternator voltage and the voltage reading seemed to be creeping below 12 volts. Normally it has been running around 14 volts, so something was amiss. As I was heading home, I was thinking I had an alternator problem, and if this kept up, I was soon going to be running strictly off of the battery. So I started sweating it a bit. Literally. Turned off the AC fan, turned off the radar detector, and started crossing my fingers. If the alternator quit completely, I still had longer to go to get home than I would have liked. Was praying at the intersection of 267 and 319 that the traffic light would remain GREEN for me so I wouldn't have to stop and waste what could be precious moments of driving time.
Anyway, I was able to make it back home OK, but by then the voltage reading had dropped down to around 11.3 volts And the DIC wasn't happy, neither. Obviously not low enough to drain the battery on me, but still, apparently the battery was not being charged up, and certainly the car didn't seem to be running on the alternator juice.
Since I have been able to keep the battery charged up OK with a battery tender, I'm leaning towards the alternator being the problem. I do have one of those battery/alternator checking tools, and according to it, the battery is fine at 12.5 volts, but the alternator while running the engine wasn't even registering on the idiot lights.
Of course, I did kill one of my battery tenders a week or two ago when I hooked it up to the C5Z, but not sure what that is all about. Fortunately the brand I have warrants the things for 10 years, so I was able to get a free replacement.
So I figured it is time to buy a new alternator. The one I have been currently running is one of those rebuilds you get at Advance Auto or Autozone. Held up OK for a few years for me, but I wanted to get a polished alternator this time for aesthetic reasons. Can always use some more bling underneath the hood. What I found was a 145 amp polished aluminum model from Tuff Stuff sold through Summit Racing, and this one has a clutch on the pulley, instead of the straight pulley on the current alternator I have. I've been reading that these are finding favor on vehicles to help with stress on the serpentine belt during deceleration. So what the heck....
Only thing that is potentially going to be a wrinkle here (that I know of now, at least) is that the current alternator is very
VERY close to the coil sitting above cylinder number 1 on the valve cover.
This COULD be an issue.
But hopefully the new alternator won't be too fat back there to fit where the old one is located. Really only one way to tell, I guess.
Oh, on the bright side, not a peep out of that drivetrain noise the entire time.
Alternator problems
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