| mt6127 |
01-14-2022 02:25 PM |
usually when the water pump leaks it exits at the bottom of the timing belt cover so its possible that road wind wet some of the underneath or in the engine but not likely to damage an alternator. To test your alternator try this: get a simple volt meter (aka VOM or multi-meter). Measure the voltage across the battery terminals. A charged battery will be 12.6 to 12.8V, a drained battery will be like 12.3 or lower. Now start the car (you may need a jump or a charger to get the battery back to snuff). Measure again across the terminals- if you see 14V or more, the alternator is working - if its less than 14V but more than 12.6 or so, turn your high beams, rear defroster, AC blower etc (to create a load) now measure again. If it dips blow 13 that means again points to the alternator. Usually if the alternator is totally dead, it may simply be the voltage regulator which can be replaced separately on some models (for way less money). Last test - if the alternator appears to be working, you may want to do a current draw test. See if you can rent/borrow a loop tester (ie at Autozone) that clamps over the battery cable to measure current. With the car off, key out, If you measure more than say 25 mAs or so, then you may have a parasitic current draw. You can pop out fuses or relays to see what is staying on. this could be as simply as the glove box vanity light etc. I once saw where a friend's car battery was being drained by an orange peel stuck in the lighter socket! It was enough to create a circuit with the key off to drain the battery in a few days. Final though is how long did you run the car for in your weekly start up? you may need a 15+ minute driving cycle to really charge up the battery. If you have access to power, investing in a battery charger/tender may be a good idea for a covid car.
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