So.... I finally found my electrical gremlin!

two days ago I came home and parked outside the garage to wash the car. When I went in the garage, I noticed a strange residue on the floor. Looked and smelled like Battery acid. I popped my hood, and my battery was definately boiling over. Thank goodness it was still under warranry. I also figured this was a good time to pull the Alt and just get it tested.

Got the alt tested at two locations and it passed THEIR benchmarks. I got my new battery in and thought everything was great. I then drove last night and found that my lights were still fading in and out. So after work today, I popped the hood, and found that my NEW battery was starting to boil over! I thought WTF!?! Threw the multimeter on it and it was 12.8. Now I'm really confussed! So I revved up to 3000 and it read 17.7 volts!!! SO...out comes the alt for a second time, took it back to checker, they tested it agin, and agin it passes. I said screw it and bought a new (rebuilt) with lifetime warranty. As far as I can tell, the problem is FINALLY SOLVED!!!! I have super stable readings now and my battery seems much happier. Actually, the whole car seems happier. It seems to drive much smoother now. Hmmmmm, I wonder why!?!?!?

So, I am concluding that bench testing alternators is a waste of time.

I am curious though, especially for those of you who have done the big three wire upgrade, do you think my upgraded Alt to Bat cable had anything to do with my alternator going bad? The Alt did have 82,000 miles on it, and alot of that with a shitty amp and not so great of wiring. I have not put the upgraded cable back on, I am just running my stock alternator cable. Do you think I would be ok hooking it back up? Also, those who have did this mod, did you leave the original alt cable hooked up as well?

 

im not sure about this but i thought bench tests didnt test for how strong the charge was just if its puting out 12 volts sorta like a dummy lite "ok /bad"

 

Well that sounds exactly like what it did. Was absolutely useless in my opinion. I suppose you cant beat common sense and a hunch sometimes. I knew it was my alternator, but I did what I was suppose to and had it checked. A lot of good that did! wink1.gif

 

Good thing it was just your battery. Hyunday has a bad problem with there wiring. I dont know what the deal was but my MAF sensor went out and so did my headlight? My airbag light is on (dont know why, It just came on one day) and my driver tailight wont stay on but the brake light works just fine? Dont know.

 

The alt test just tells if the alternator produces current (since a dead alt will not produce any current). It sounds like the voltage regulator went bad on that alt. While bench tests will show that it works, if the voltage regulator was bad, you would be giving the battery more voltage than it can handle.

 

Yeah, definately the Voltage Regulator.

Glad you found out mang. Now reinstall your Voltage Stabilizer!

 

REDZ: I just did man!! yeah, big difference! Not quite as fancy as yours, but I think it gets the job done. smile.gif

Yeah, Hyundai wiring is either really good, or really bad. My stereo was never grounded correctly, even the stocker. I ended up rewiring ALL my stereo equipment. I didn't even use the power from the wiring harness let alone the crappy ground.

I am very happy I found the problem, now its on to bigger better things.....