2002 Dodge Intrepid ongoing charging issues
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2002 Dodge Intrepid ongoing charging issues
Hope someone can help.
1. Had a dead battery in Jan 2010, replaced the battery with a high end NAPA battery.
2. Battery dead in May 2011, replaced under warrenty.
3. Battery dead 4 times between mid sept and end of Oct 2011. Decided that it must be another bad NAPA battery and returned battery.
4. Bought new Walmart battery Nov 18th, they also tested my system and I had 473mv of ripple voltage. Walmart didn't say anything about that, saw the printout later and looked it up and it looked like I might have a bad alternator.
5. Decided I was done with all this crap and changed the alternator end of Dec 2011. I replace it with a used alternator from a 2004 Intrepid with 51K miles on it.
6. I had the new (used) alternator checked at Autozone in Ohio prior to putting it in. After I put it in I had them check it on the car and they said my system was fine except my battery was low and recommended me checking it out or replacing it (only a month old battery).
7. I drove the car from Ohio to Colorado and after a couple weeks had the system checked at Autozone and they said everthing was fine except the battery was only at 61% charge.
8. I drove it 1 block from Autozone to Walmart and told the Walmart guy the entire story and said that two Autozones checked my system in the past couple weeks and they both stated that my charging system was fine but the battery was weak.
9. Walmart checked it out and said I had high ripple voltage of 475mv again and that the alternator was probably bad.
10. I drove from Walmart to Oreilly's 2 blocks and had them check the system and they said my alternator was fine but the battery was weak.
11. Feb 24th battery dead this morning and had to jump car.
My questions are these:
a. What causes the ripple voltage, alternator having a bad diode only? Dirty connector on alternator, battery, or somewhere else in the system?
b. What other tests can I do with a voltmeter or osillosope before taking it to the dealer or something? Look at AC ripple voltage on battery terminals?? Check voltage and ripple directly on alternator?
1. Had a dead battery in Jan 2010, replaced the battery with a high end NAPA battery.
2. Battery dead in May 2011, replaced under warrenty.
3. Battery dead 4 times between mid sept and end of Oct 2011. Decided that it must be another bad NAPA battery and returned battery.
4. Bought new Walmart battery Nov 18th, they also tested my system and I had 473mv of ripple voltage. Walmart didn't say anything about that, saw the printout later and looked it up and it looked like I might have a bad alternator.
5. Decided I was done with all this crap and changed the alternator end of Dec 2011. I replace it with a used alternator from a 2004 Intrepid with 51K miles on it.
6. I had the new (used) alternator checked at Autozone in Ohio prior to putting it in. After I put it in I had them check it on the car and they said my system was fine except my battery was low and recommended me checking it out or replacing it (only a month old battery).
7. I drove the car from Ohio to Colorado and after a couple weeks had the system checked at Autozone and they said everthing was fine except the battery was only at 61% charge.
8. I drove it 1 block from Autozone to Walmart and told the Walmart guy the entire story and said that two Autozones checked my system in the past couple weeks and they both stated that my charging system was fine but the battery was weak.
9. Walmart checked it out and said I had high ripple voltage of 475mv again and that the alternator was probably bad.
10. I drove from Walmart to Oreilly's 2 blocks and had them check the system and they said my alternator was fine but the battery was weak.
11. Feb 24th battery dead this morning and had to jump car.
My questions are these:
a. What causes the ripple voltage, alternator having a bad diode only? Dirty connector on alternator, battery, or somewhere else in the system?
b. What other tests can I do with a voltmeter or osillosope before taking it to the dealer or something? Look at AC ripple voltage on battery terminals?? Check voltage and ripple directly on alternator?
Last edited by mmteik; Feb 24, 2012 at 08:15 PM.