Batteries dead/not charging

pluckmyeyeout · Post by **pluckmyeyeout** » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:33 am

Two new batteries totally dead... Jumped the van and figured the alternator would charge them up as I had a good 30 minute drive. Got a few minutes into the drive and notice the lights are a bit dim... Then realize the radio's died. Ooops. No power at all. I've been meaning to do the alternator belt as it's constantly squeaking... I've got a date with a friend and his garage in a few weeks. I've been holding off because it's been cold AF here in New England. In the meantime I've just been driving it, thinking that the alternator was working, but after last night obviously not. How to know if the alternator is dead? Is there a test? Could a bad belt be the culprit? If it's the alternator, where to source? Worth rebuilding?

Lapprentis · Post by **Lapprentis** » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:58 am

I know Steven, at Rising Sun, can provide you with a new one (Hyundai), as well as any other Canadian West Coast Delica related Garage. I would like to know too about if they can be rebuilt anywhere around at a reasonable cost. Isn't there any alternator fuse you could have blown ?

Keep in touch whenyou find the problem

Lapprentis

north54 · Post by **north54** » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:58 pm

Did you tap the alternator with a wrench yet?

For real though.... Sometimes it can work.

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:41 pm

Get a battery charger on those batteries ASAP, it's not good to leave them dead for long. I wonder what's drained them? Alarm system?

It sounds like more than just the loose belt- even a loose belt will still make *some* power.

As others have said, check the fuses and connections at the battery. It's easy to blow the alternator fuse if you briefly create a short when changing batteries- it's in the black plastic terminal labelled "alt", the fuse is usually blue and has a window so you can see if it's blown or not.

To test the alternator you'd need a multimeter. With the engine running the battery voltage should be more than 13.2V, up to 14.2V maximum when the batteries are fully charged. With the engine off, the battery voltage should drop below 13.2V

pluckmyeyeout · Post by **pluckmyeyeout** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:24 pm

Is it OK to charge batteries while everything is hooked up? I generally take the battery that I'm charging out of the car, but with the dual battery setup it takes me 15 minutes just to get the damn things out.

I don't think there's a drain. I'm pretty sure that I've been driving without an alternator since I got the new batteries, and it had been a few days of driving with lights, etc...

2nd question: If I hook the trickle charger up to one battery, will it charge both? I've got the standard tandem Chamonix setup.

Post by **Growlerbearnz** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:57 pm

It's fine to charge the batteries with them in place, and the trickle charger should charge both batteries at the same time if you just connect it to one battery.

weelsey · Post by **weelsey** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:06 pm

It's probably a good idea to bring the batteries inside in order to bring them up to a full state of charge if its frigid. But during this thaw they may benefit from upping the charge rate in situ.
Get in there and check those belts out. May be your tensioner bolt has rattled off and its laying in the skid-plate.

helibrian · Post by **helibrian** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:15 pm

There should be an alternator shop around you that can overhaul in a day for under 200$. It is a real pain to remove but might be a lot easier if you take the drivers seat out and the panel under it. If you read the thread on the head replacement it shows how to remove it. I’ve had my alternator rebuilt 3 times now in 10 years. The last one should last along time since I just fixed the leaky turbo.