1. Voltage across battery w/o engine running: 12v exactly (it had been
several hours since engine had been run).
2. Voltage across battery w engine running, no accessories running @ idle:
13.8v.
(voltage remained the same when revving engine to about 2000 rpm)
3. Voltage across battery w engine running, all lights, A/C, blower,
hazards (everything on) @ idle: 13.5v.
4. Voltage across battery w engine running, all lights, A/C, blower,
hazards (everything on) @ approx. 2000 rpm: 13.8v.
5. Voltage across battery w/o engine running after above tests: 13v.
6. Voltage across battery w/o engine running after engine off for 10
minutes: 12v.
IMHO, it looks like the alternator is putting out what it should.
When I first went out to start and do the second set of tests, I got the
clicks again. This had been several hours since it had been running. It
had never gotten up to running temperature during the prior run this
morning.
Second set of tests #6 showed a 1v drop from 13v to 12v in about 10 minutes
after turning the engine off. Anything up with that?
Thanks for looking,
KR
snip...
Then, I replaced the clamps on the positive and negative cables. I saw some
corrosion and wanted to make sure.
Still no luck. Well, at this point yours truly gives up. I figure it is
likely somewhere from the ignition switch to the solenoid, and I don't want
to get into that.
Took it to an independent shop where I get heavier work done, tell them what
I had done, and told them to find the problem and fix it.
They called back a couple hours later, and said the starter was bad! This
was an Advance Auto, Worldwide starter that I had installed last week. I
told them to go ahead and put the one in they recommend, and I would take
this one back and tell Advance thanks for wasting my money and time!
The shop put in a OCA (Orange County Alternator) Premium
http://www.ocaelectrical.com . Quite a bit more expensive, but these are
the only class of parts they will honor with a warranty. They have harped
(ad nauseum) on using quality parts over the years I have been their
customer, and I guess now I'm more the wiser to listen to their advice.
They don't even consider the Auto Zone and Advance products; they'll put 'em
on without a warranty, but if they give out then that's your problem.
Lessons Learned:
1. Don't forget to consider what you orginally replaced might be bad. I
just didn't put the clicking scenario together with the starter replacement.
I orginally replaced the other starter because of the 1/2 second solenoid
delay. The clicking started once I put the Worldwide in, and I just didn't
think of a DOA starter being the problem.
2. Avoid the cheap auto parts store units. I think I'll stick with this
now. As a general rule of thumb, for starters, alternators, water pumps,
etc. it looks like the class of parts my shop uses costs 2-3 times that of
an Auto Zone or Advance. Perhaps I'm getting ripped off, perhaps not. But
when they do something, it just works and works right the first time (they
did a flawless water pump job on my Durango with these class of parts)...
good enough for me.
I would be interested in who else has seen the OCA line of parts "in
action". I didn't find much out on the internet about this company, nor
many reseller sources for them. They market starters and alternators in two
rebuilt classes (Premium and Lucas) and a new class (NEW Advantage). I
think they primarily target repair shops more than the end user.
Cheers,
KR
