jturkel

apparently my new alternator is a refurbished unit......and there is a service bulletin about how faulty all of the voltage regulators are on the C32 alternators......so its quite possible my old alternator's voltage regulator was crapping out....and i installed one that is already crapped out.....i guess we'll find out tomorrow eh? haha....the guys were pretty certain thats what it is. i hope they're right.

also, the voltage on the battery was NOT ok today. sitting at dynocomp for like 30 minutes, voltage dropped from 13.5 all the way to 11.3. Everyone was watching it and this was while hooked up to STAR DAS. Not only was the voltage reading that through OBDII in the STAR DAS, but also that was the read out we got directly off the battery. so idk what the hell the other guy was saying, but it looks like the battery wasn't fine and wasn't charging up right....anyway....we'll see how it goes tomorrow morning. getting it done first thing at 8:30

oh and they all said the battery was a good battery....so blah....electrical car drama, please end lol.

MBH motorsports

I'm getting the feeling its a refub ALT. in that case they just redo the coils and what not then reuse an old voltage reg.. Every thing that STAR DAS, said, based on Fault codes and "Actual Values" along with the service bulletin. Points to this being the issue. Am I 100% sure? No.. But its a step in the right direction to solving this problem.

He has a new battery and new ALT or (Refurb ALT). The car when idling drops its volts to an out or rage number.. Like 11.5v. Then try's to kick its volts back up sporadically Only reaching a 12.8v range.... So when Josh turns his lights and AC on the car draws alot of energy very quickly. In some cases this might be enough to tell the lazy voltage reg inside the ALT to do something about it.

I was also thinking that the volts have to drop into an area, that is very low and out of spec. Before turning on the light and AC has an effect on the ALT kicking the volts back up a bit.

we will see tomorrow, when the Dyno-Comp Tech's get their hands on it.

TemjinX2

maybe send it back? i ordered the same one and don't have any problems.

jturkel

from bimmerspecialist.com?

this one: http://www.bimmerspecialist.com/usa/...ils/1121540202

?

TemjinX2

yup...i've had it for 6months with no problems.

jturkel

odd. i know jake said he bought his from there too and had no problems. crap. well idk what there return policy is....but if it IS the voltage regulator that is bad, i'm gonna ask them to at least cover my cost of the voltage regulator (50 or something at the dealership), being that they shipped me an alternator with a bad regulator....if that is the case, which we'll find out tomorrow morning.....

loungn14

ya, mine was fine, but I don't think mine was reman. Thats a little odd, as that is not listed on the site that I saw.

good luck man

jturkel

well got the voltage regulator put in....it was an updated one that....and.......................nope. problem NOT solved. back the drawing board.

jturkel

does anyone think this could be related to the Needswings Pulley Saver Kit? someone suggested that the alternator pulley might not be spinning fast enough....but im not sure if that can be it, b/c if you follow that logic, when i go WOT, the voltage doesnt jump. it stays the same.

Lenin

For whatever it's worth, I'm running a Pulley Server Kit for like 5 months already without any issues. And your logic does make sence to me.

TemjinX2

I really doubt it. I've been running the pulley kit since it came out and i do not have any alternator problems.

Check and recheck all the oem grounds, make sure there no corrision.

jturkel

gonna bring the car in and have the oem grounds checked.

i almost would bring it in to the stealership, since they just sent me (oddly and coincidentally enough) an offer of free diagnosis on the car (or i suppose a free evaluation is more accurate)....but i'm sure they will be so confused with everything under the hood, it just isnt worth the headache of having to explain everything.

anyway, does anyone think it could be a bad connection/wire from the alternator to the battery? where is this line/wire located?

jturkel

anyone know where the engine grounds are? my buddy made be a crude ground and it seems to have stabilized my voltage. i think i have a loose ground somewhere...which could explain why when i go over bumps, my voltage changes....and why i go on these periods of time when i do have voltage problems and when i dont.

jturkel

alright well i guess no one knows.....but the ground my buddy made for me seems to have fixed my voltage problem. he took off one of the screws on top of the plenums, then put a wire around it, screwed it back in, and then attached the wire elsewhere on the chassis. voltage now stays between 13.6 and 14.4 (depending on temperature, driving/idle/park, etc). so i suppose i had a loose engine ground somewhere. happy the problem is likely resolved!

TemjinX2

i'm glad you were able to solve the problem. Maybe PM splinter or glyn about the oem ground locations. You can try checking the srt6 manual, it might have it on there.

Lenin

There are ground locations by the from and rear SAM. When I was wiring my data logging HW, I had to run a ground wire from the front SAM through the firewall. The ground signal inside the car was not as good.

PTE

. So I jacked the car up , and found you the ground return wire you may be concerned about. We replace these all the time here in Florida, We get hi water floods , sometimes it even has salt water mixed in with it. And it will really weaken the Crimps at the lug attachment points. The picture shows, that the main chassis ground, is pretty exposed to the elements
Cheers _PTEngineering

MBH motorsports

My family, being int he ESD, grounding, biz. i've always wondered why that wire is left exposed.

I've been toying with the idea of a crazy grounding kit for these cars. Turk, call me today. I can make you a killer grounding kit.

TemjinX2

+1

great info

jturkel

thanks!

aight. we'll talk.

ML500K

can you repost the picture, seems like it got deleted somehow...thanks!

PTE

I'm Currently on the road I will repost Thursday night. Cheers _PTEngineering

I got home early , The pictures are in place , Cheers _PTEngineering

jturkel

i know everyone is just dying to know what the little ground looks like my friend made on my car and how unclean it is....lol....sarcasm......so here are a couple pics:

TemjinX2

its a good temporary solution. I would get some terminal connectors in the future to make sure its on there more securely.

jturkel

yah its just temporary. i'm gonna have hooley build me a legit super grounding kit in the next week or so. i'm still down a tiny itty bit of voltage when driving (it sometimes drops to 13.5 if i'm driving for a while)....but i no longer have a longer cranking period if car isn't driven for a little while and voltage no longer gets below 12 or 13....stays between 13.8 and 14.2 or so while driving.