Sometimes my alternator doesn't spin up, and all I get is 9V. But most days the alternator kicks in either A) immediately or B) after 5-10 minutes of driving.
Now here's where the paranoia helps me draw conclusions that might be crazy...
The one thing that seems to always be present when the alternator doesn't want to work is: rain. And the days in which it runs okay are rain-less.
Now, does rain have anything to do with it? My assumption is that the moisture somehow causes the belt to slip. Or perhaps rain leaks in somewhere and shorts something.
Get a new alternator, because that one isn't working properly. The belt has a little to do with it, but if it were slipping that much you'd surely hear it squealing, and if it slipped that much all the time the belt would be broken from overheating.
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1992 Yamaha FZR 1000. 145 Hp, all stock..
i have to agree with zen. your alternator will do that until finally your it goes out and then youll be stuck. that happened to me downtown at 5pm, lots of people honking. and remmember to replace the belt with the new alternator.
i am going to have a very trustworthy mechanic (my father) look at the belt this weekend. he has worked on imports for 30 years now, but he always says "i haven't worked on these cars [z31] for so long."
the battery? i haven't had it checked yet. the battery seems to be okay because i can take it in the house, charge it, and run off of it for a few hours (in the event that it's a rainy day and the alt never kicks in).
i replaced the alternator with a Duralst brand one from Autozone (lifetime warranty) and the problem went away.
i was a fool to think it was rain. it was purely coincidence that happened to occur frequently.
it was my first time replacing an alternator...or fixing a car for that matter. i was quite satisfied with myself for doing all that shite (jack up the car; remove splash shield, fan, shroud; drain coolant and remove radiator hard pipe; remove belts; loosen power steering pump; and finally replace the alternator).
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