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Alternator deemed dead on my car. 850 1995

posted by  REP on  Sat Dec 17 04:27 CST 2011
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last visit: Mon Jun 30 14:33 CST 2014
[RELATED]

This past Tuesday my 95 Volvo 850 would not start on its own. It need a jump. Then got out of work and jumped it again. I then went to a place to have the charging system tested. The battery test read 0 CCA, when the Battery stated that it should be 590 CCA. So the place said to change out the Battery with a new one. I did. Car started right up after that and I was on my way. Well the next morning the car would not start again and needed a jump. This time I went to a local garage and had several electrical test done and the new battery was only registering 9.8 volts. They then tested the alternator and it was only registering 8.2 volts.

So, it was determined to be a dead alternator. I went out purchased an new alternator with lifetime replacement, serpentine belt, and checking in on any odd tools that I might need for the job and did it myself. Tore everything apart and put in the new parts and hooked up the electrical wires and off I go. Right! Wrong! The car again would not start. Tested the Battery and it registered 10.4 Volts. So, I got a jump start and the car started with ease. Then about 5 minutes into the car running the cars rpms jumped to 3000 range and rev'd like this for several minutes and would not slow down. So, I shut the vehicle down and a couple of minutes later tried to start the car again, but it would not turn over again. Once again jumped the car to start and it did it again.

At this point we tested the other vehicles battery to see what it was reading and it was registering 12.7 volts when hooked to my car. Then we went to my car and checked to see if the reading was the same for which it was.
I was instructed by a mechanic that I should run a power cord to my car and put my jump-start power pack in the engine compartment on and hooked up to the battery and that will trickle charge the battery overnight. So that is what I have done at this point.

Any clues as to why by replacing the old alternator with a new one I would get the reving of the motor like that? I'm concerned.
I also saw a lot of smoke at night coming from that area last night as well. I did check for anything leaking but did not find anything leaking.
I did do an engine clean in that area when it was all torn apart, due to that area being heavily gunk up with oil and dirt from my oil leaking issue that I corrected a little while ago.
Could that be the smoke?
Let me know what you guys think. I'd really like to start using my car once again. A few days without it is not good.

Car in question is a 1995 Volvo 850 GLT non-turbo with 381K on it. It is an automatic as well.

Looking forward to the replies.







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    Alternator deemed dead on my car. 850 1995

    posted by  B.B. on  Sat Dec 17 07:55 CST 2011
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    last visit: Mon Oct 6 13:15 CST 2014
    [RELATED]

    It sounds like two separate issues with your car,

    First the battery and alternator and charging:
    With the engine running you should get about 14.0 VDC at the
    battery terminals. With the car shut off you should see 12.6VDC
    at the battery. If you see less, say 8 or 10 V, then you likely have a dead
    cell or two, which you can confirm with a hydrometer.

    Your battery cables and terminal ends are 16 years old and need careful
    checking especially where the cable end fits into the crimp terminal.
    Corrosion and vibration can wreck those terminals over time.
    Same deal with the starter and alternator cables and pay close attention
    to the D+ wire with it's innocent looking spade lug. If it get ratty then
    the alternator wont charge. Double check the connections at the battery
    clean and regrease. Then service all your grounds, they are critical too.

    As far as the revs, that sounds like you have a vacuum leak, which is easy to
    get with working around crusty old vacuum hoses. It might be a good idea to
    replace all the Vac hoses and elbows and save yourself the aggravation of waiting for them to crap out at the worst possible moment.

    Good luck,

    Bill






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