bad alternator or battery? *update*

[RareGMFan]

Could a bad alternator be intermittent

yes. thats how mine died.

If you have a bad diode it can be intermittent.  You can actually replace it, but in all likelihood you would want to do the whole alternator.  Diodes are cheap (er) than even a rebuilt alt...but you have to take it apart/fix it/get it back together and in the time it takes to do that you could have one with new bearings, etc. with a warranty. If you buy auto store (OR, Autozone, etc), if the lifetime warranty is available, might want to consider it.  I needed 3 alternators on my Suburban I used to have....only bought/paid for 1 of them (warranty x2).  I would swap them in the parking lot of Autozone....they loved me.

 

I'd just rather get a good alternator the 1st time around, and not have to worry about replacing them every year or two. Everyone I know (myself included) who has bought some cheap-o, aftermarket alternator from AutoZone, or Advance Auto Parts, etc. has ended up having to replace it several times. By their own employees' admission, there's no such thing as a "new" alternator from such stores. On the other hand, everyone I know who has gotten an Iceberg alternator has never complained about it going out. They have a pretty good selection from OEM, to more powerful alternators, even upgrades to a CS-144 series designed to fit CS-130 applications.

 

http://www.alternatorparts.com/cs130_&_cs130d_alt.htm

[mfewtrail]

The Duralast Gold alternators are pretty decent, or at least the older ones are. I put one on my 1993 GP somewhere around June 2002. It's still working 100%. This has been the longest lasting alternator that has ever been installed in the car, and it's had a lot of them including new AC Delco's, rebuilt AC Delco's, and several other new & rebuilt alts from various sources. The duralast alt is about #7 or #8 <---unfortunately, that's not an exaggeration. Whatever you get, spring for the lifetime warranty as it will likely come in handy on these cars.

 

For what it's worth, my parent's have also had a Durlast Gold alternator on their '94 Regal since 2004ish.

[89GP_SE]

It isnt so much the alternators fault, its more of a shitty design by gm. These alternators are to withstand 200 degrees or something like that, but they run way hot, more like 255, which will kill them alot faster. Basically they overheat!

 

Too small of bearings for the output they put out.

[blakngold4life]

The battery drained completely the other day and left me stranded, so I finally decided to check it. recharged the battery and everything is running fine, the alternator is putting out 14.42 volts but the battery light is still on. Any ideas?

[BXX]

The battery drained completely the other day and left me stranded, so I finally decided to check it. recharged the battery and everything is running fine, the alternator is putting out 14.42 volts but the battery light is still on. Any ideas?

 

warning light circuit short.. check it out...

 

Even though the altenator is putting out 14.4V, doesnt mean its getting to the entire electical system..

[Venom]

The battery drained completely the other day and left me stranded, so I finally decided to check it. recharged the battery and everything is running fine, the alternator is putting out 14.42 volts but the battery light is still on. Any ideas?

 

warning light circuit short.. check it out...

 

Even though the altenator is putting out 14.4V, doesnt mean its getting to the entire electical system..

x2 I learned this while doing charging system checks when I was working at AutoZone. The system would show normal volts coming out the alternator, but they were not getting back to the battery indicating other problems.