alternator issue

[Dagostino480]

hey guys last week my batter light went on , on my 89 coupe sohc and I ran a battery / alternator test on it and found my alternator was charging at 11.3 volts and my battery had a bad cell. I replaced both battery with a interstat mt24 (midline) and the alternator with a reman'd from one of my shops suppliers.

Ran fine for a week then my radio turned off while i was driving and the car shut down shortly afterwards. If you jump start it it would run for a mile then die. So I towed it to work and found the alternator charging at 9/10 volts.

Today I charged the battery and replaced the alternator with a warranty one that was just rebuild ( i saw the guy rebuild it and he took his time with new parts). he later on ripped apart the old alternator and found the regulator that he said is supposedly brand new was fried. I called to see what the problem was on the old alternator just out of curiosity and he said the regulator goes because the of bad battery or a bad connection somewhere.


Car runs fine now but I wanna know if there is a common problem with 240sx's shorting the alternator out or if I just got a bad alternator?

thoughts/ opinions

[codyace]

When you attach the main power cable on the back of the altenator, make sure you're not accidentally grounding it out to the case itself. You should have a small plastic spacer behind it to prevent that from happening.

[OrangeVirus1]

I've been through 3 alternators in the course of a week.
1 was dead
1 worked then died
1 got installed today and finally charging.

these cars eat alternators

[codyace]

I've been through 3 alternators in the course of a week.
1 was dead
1 worked then died
1 got installed today and finally charging.

these cars eat alternators

I wouldn't say it's the car's fault at all...gotta think most of these cars are not 15-20 years old on the OE parts...some of which that have sat for years. Can't complain about that life span.

Off topic/ With that said, parts store units can be junk too, so new buyers beware.

[OrangeVirus1]

I wouldn't say it's the car's fault at all...gotta think most of these cars are not 15-20 years old on the OE parts...some of which that have sat for years. Can't complain about that life span.

Off topic/ With that said, parts store units can be junk too, so new buyers beware.

The KA alternator I had worked fine no problem. I put it on my RB20 and it's dead in 5 minutes..

[Dagostino480]

When you attach the main power cable on the back of the altenator, make sure you're not accidentally grounding it out to the case itself. You should have a small plastic spacer behind it to prevent that from happening.

Thanks for the reply, when i put on the alternator i over tightened the plastic spacer, it broke so i pulled it off haha

[codyace]

Thanks for the reply, when i put on the alternator i over tightened the plastic spacer, it broke so i pulled it off haha

Good to know it sorted out! You can actually get little nylon washers at lowes or home depot to stick behind it (or you could even cut a little piece of rubber, or plastic) to work too.