My car starts without issue, but it seems to be having an issue keeping the charge up when the car is running, and is idling low.

Over the past few months I've been getting a belt squeal occasionally, such as after I start the car and I immediately put a load on the electrical system (turning headlights on, opening multiple windows, etc). The voltage indicator will drop, and the belt will squeal until the voltage gets back to the normal range.

Now, it seems to be struggling to keep the voltage up, but there is very little or no belt squeal. Last night while driving the car with the headlights on and the heater on, the car was driving with the voltage struggling to stay in the good range, and the car was idling low when stopped. Normally it idles at about 8k RPMs, but it was dropping down to about 4 or 5k RPMs while the voltage indicator was low.

Do you think it is the belt, the tensioner, the alternator or the battery??

I am thinking the alternator because it seems to get worse as the load on the charging system increases... I don't think its the battery because the car starts without an issue...

Maybe it is the belt tensioner, and the alternator wheel simply isn't getting spun?? Or do you have any suggestions as to what exactly to look for?

Thanks

 

Tighten the alternator belt and report back in the morning.


Cheers
DD

 

I'm betting with Doug.

 

I would guess the crank damper has failed and you need to repair or replace it.
You can mark the center and outer sections, start the engine, run it for a while, shut it down and then recheck the alignment of the marks.

good luck

bob gauff

P.S. PLEASE INCLUDE CAR INFO!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I was able to increase the tension on the belt. It felt tight on the alternator pulley when feeling by hand, but there was a lot of play when I got a wrench in and started turning the tension nut. It would not turn at first, but freed up after a couple of light hits with a rubber mallet. The car seems a lot better now and I haven't heard any more squeals from the belt. It literally used to squeal every time I'd go through a puddle on a rainy day... Thanks for the help. My last car had an auto-tensioner of sorts and I didn't have to worry about it as much. I didn't know this was a manual tensioner. Very easy to adjust though..