1995 Cavalier 2.3 Quad 4 HO -90,5xxx miles
I put a new alternator on last January-2005- and I honestly havent driven the car much in the last year, untill recently. The past two months I have had it out more, like 4-5 times a week. But anyway, last friday I put another new alternator on (lifetime warranty free replacement from napa) and I think I have driven the car less than 10 times since. Last friday after putting the new one on, the little battery light was still flashing. It didnt stay on, but on the drive home it was flashing every once and a while. Last night I barely made it home cuz it died on me again. Did the same exact thing as last week when it died. I am trying to figure out why... this is all I can think of:
1.) I switched the pully that came on it with an underdrive pully. It weighs alot less but it is a little larger in size so that would mean less revolutions. I also removed the A/C pump and put a pulley in its place, I i would think that would not matter. I think I'm going to start by switching back to the OE pulley that came on it.
2.) I was in a hurry when I put it on last week with my buddy and I had him slip the belt on while I turned the automatic tensioner. I didnt really check to see how tight the belt was. Maybe the automatic tensioner is getting weak and not supplying enough pressure the keep the belt tight and give me juice? Maybe it is slipping on the crank cuz it is not tight enough?
3.) Or maybe the wiring is bad from the alt. to the battery. But if this was the case then I figure it would not have worked for the less then 10 times I drove it this past week.
What do you guys think? How would I Check the automatic tensioner? It did take some effort to pivot it to get the belt on. But I dont know if it is as strong as it should be. The battery is fairly new and it is a RED TOP gel filled one. So I am pretty sure the battery is not the problem. If I get it running again I'm taking it straing to a NAPA to have the alternator tested to see how many volts it is putting out..... Let me know what ya think!!! THANKS GUYS!
underdrives... biggest problem /w them is you are under driving your accessories.
Water pump = overheating problems
alternator = charging problems
pwr steering = not enough pressure, pump failures
I would suggest not using them unless it's a track car, the gains you get (1-5hp at 4-6krpm) arn't worth the trouble. If you must I would suggest buying a smaller alt pully (smaller than stock) from a shop and having them install that as well. The problem is that most alt's barely charge the system at idle, with underdrives you probably don't start charging until 1500rpm.
ps. underdrives were created because on a 1/4 mi track you're running 4-6k rpm and are actually spinning the accessories too much, causing them to fail. on a track care you want to underdrive the accessories to restore lost HP and make your accessories last longer (if they're still on the car).
Damn, I forgot my crank has the underdrive too. I'm gonna start with just putting the OE alt pully back on and see if that will get me going. After I put that back on I will test it to see if I am somewhere closer to putting 14 volts out. I hope that works, I dont want to have to take the underdrive off the crank. This car is usually driven between 3,000 7,500 so I should be safe with keeping the crank underdrive on, I hope. THANKS mail delivering Rabbit!
Kevin
