battery not charging

[joe3180]

i was wondering if the alt houseing is touching part of the engine in an area it doesnt normally touch would that cause it not to charge the battery? i have my alt and it is a tight squeeze where i had to cut a stud on the back of the alt but that nub of the stud is touching a bracket and the battery is not charging. i dont know if the alt is just bad or that is the cause. i cant get to the car for a couple days to have the alt tested so i figured id ask if maybe that is the problem. thanks.

sr20det redtop s13

[Mikey444]

Ok i've never heard of that in my life. Best thing is get a ohm meter and check the output of the alt. Also need to know what the battery is not doing. Is the car not starting? Is it hard to start? Have you had the battery checked?

[joe3180]

battery checked and is good and fairly new...4 months. battery is starting car and is just fine just not getting any charge so its slowly dieing while the car is running. i checked it with a volt meter. what parts of the alt should i use the ohm meter on? i learned it once but its been too long and i cant remember. thank you.

[wiggafly808]

Most likely your alternator.

Start your car, and put a voltmeter across the neg and positive leads of the battery.
Your voltage should be ~13.6 or so. If is below that, its probably your alternator.

I dont think the alternator grounds out on the housing, pretty sure theres a positive and negative lead.
Make sure your accessory belt is snug around the alternator as well.

[joe3180]

tested alt...sometimes no voltage and sometimes it reads 11.81-11.82 steady...so yea...prob dead alt...again. sux....oh well...thanks.

[joe3180]

oh...yea there is a ground on the alt but what i was saying is that the bolt i had to cut touches the bracket...i just didnt know if that would short the alt and make it not work like in a wire. or if that wouldnt make a differance then its just the alt is bad.

[Mikey444]

Naw man. If volts are that low then the altenator isnt doing its job. If you say sometimes it reads and sometimes it doesnt, yeah alternator. U can take the negative lead off the battery and the car should still run.

[AZRB20]

Can anyone help me, I am having this exact same problem but its not the alternator, the alt is putting out 14.2-14.6 volts from the alt, and at the battery it reads 11.7 and drains slowly. The battery doesn't die when the cars off.. the battery just wont charge. I've had the battery replaced twice thinking I may have bought a bad battery. I have replaced the Alt twice.. I have a 92 240SX.. with just a catback exhaust. Ideas??

[joe3180]

only thing left I can think of is one of your cable is maybe corroded pretty bad and the charge isn't making it to the battery. It's a guess. anyone else agree or disagree?

[AZRB20]

Found the issue, Alt fuse went bad... I'm kinda mad and happy at the same time because I've replaced a lot of shit never thinking that was the issue. The 75amp fuse went out.

[joe3180]

oh good...something easy