⚙️⚙️   What are the symptoms of a bad alternator? How to judge whether the car alternator is working normally?

✍🏻✍🏻   There is a lot of electrical equipment on the car, so it is important to have a stable power supply. Also,if there is no electricity for the gasoline engine, which causes the injectors and spark plugs will not work, and will lead the car won’t move.

✍🏻✍🏻   The alternator is one of the power sources of the vehicle. In most cases, the alternator obtains power from the crankshaft of the alternator through a belt.  As ordinary car owners, how do we determine whether the alternator is in normal working condition?  What are the symptoms of a bad alternator?

1️⃣   Observe the lighting

👉🏻👉🏻   When driving at night, you can pay attention to the brightness and flickering of the lights inside and outside the car.

👉🏻👉🏻   When you drive at night, you see the vehicle dashboard, multimedia display, reading lights and various case back lights flashing bright and dark.Besides that, when the engine is idling, the brightness of the headlights (mainly halogen lamps) of the vehicle is dimmed or flickering outside the vehicle, which usually indicates that the alternator has a problem of low power generation or unstable output voltage.

2️⃣ Use simple tools to measure voltage

👉🏻👉🏻   If you have a multimeter, you can judge the working status of the alternator by measuring the output voltage of the alternator.

👉🏻👉🏻   If you find that the vehicle is difficult to start, please use a multimeter to measure the no-load voltage of the battery as soon as possible, that is, the battery voltage when the key door is closed.  If this voltage value is lower than 12.8V, it means that the no-load voltage is too low, which will cause the vehicle to start not smoothly. Moreover, start the alternator and measure the voltage between the two poles of the battery again.  If the measured value is lower than 13.5V, it indicates that the alternator output voltage is low, which results in insufficient battery power replenishment.  In addition, if the measured power generation of the alternator is normal, it indicates that there may be a fault inside the battery, and further testing of the battery is required.

3️⃣  Observe whether the alternator shakes or makes abnormal noise

👉🏻👉🏻   When the engine is working, judge the running status of the alternator by observing whether the engine shakes and abnormal noise. The alternator is usually installed at the front of the alternator compartment to the left (vertical engine), or close to the right headlight (transverse engine)position.  If you hear an abnormal noise with the same frequency as the engine speed, it may be a mechanical failure of the alternator or belt tensioner and other components, making noise.

🛎🛎   Due to long hours of work and the impact of belt tension, the alternator rotor bearings will be mechanically damaged due to fatigue. After a long period of time, the electrical output of the alternator will also decrease.

💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡

✅ Join the Telegram Chinese Exchange Group:

Published : 17-May-2023