I have a 1993 OMC Cobra 5.0L EFI in a Four Winns 190 Horizon. I have had lots of stubborn problems with belt squeeking. I have sanded all pulleys, cleaned, and re-painted. I was so frustrated last year, I had the alternator re-built just to be sure. Now squeeking is greatly reduced (only when you really JUMP on throttle does it squeek a little). Went tooling down the lake the other day and noticed voltage was not sitting at 13+ as usual. Alternator had been charging earlier that day (registered 13+). Carefully rode home and made it on 11.2 V.
Connected Ammeter IN SERIES to orange lead wire from alternator, volt meter on orange lead in parallel and to ground. Voltage started at 12.1 (charged battery before testing), and ammeter read 0. Let idle, still 0. Went to 1500, 2000, 2500 RPM, 0 amps. In frustration I goosed the throttle, ammeter jumped to life, around 25 amps. Needle of ammeter was jumping a lot, then went back to 0. Let run at 3500RPM, still 0. Goosed throttle several times, eventually ammeter came back to life, but never exceeded 25 amps. It would jump around a bit, then go back to 0. Never registered charge for more than 25-30 seconds. When it registered, needle of ammeter was jumping between 0 and 25 amps erratically. Volt meter read between 13 and 13.5 volts. Meter was not erratic, but could be style of meter. In dash volt meter also read between 13 and 13.5 volts, with no erratic action (once had a loose connection inside a battery cell that made the volt meter go nuts).
According to SELOC manual, amperage should be over 50, especially over 2000RPM. In checking wiring, noticed a wire that was too close to exhaust manifold had melted, but did not appear to have ground out. Fixed wire, checked all I could see.
Here's what I'm thinking: 1)could a ground or other "high load" cause this problem? 2)Voltage regulator seems to be an issue, but alternator was professionally re-built last year--could "high load" burn out regulator? When it stops raining, plan to test orange wire--runs to 60 amp breaker and is then distributed to another breaker, starter relay, and main plug. Should I just test to breaker? Any suggestions on tracking down "high resistance"? Any way to temporarily by-pass orange wire? I've read elsewhere that these issues are generally NOT alternator problems, but some phantom load freaking out the voltage regulator. . .
Thanks so much for the help!
Connected Ammeter IN SERIES to orange lead wire from alternator, volt meter on orange lead in parallel and to ground. Voltage started at 12.1 (charged battery before testing), and ammeter read 0. Let idle, still 0. Went to 1500, 2000, 2500 RPM, 0 amps. In frustration I goosed the throttle, ammeter jumped to life, around 25 amps. Needle of ammeter was jumping a lot, then went back to 0. Let run at 3500RPM, still 0. Goosed throttle several times, eventually ammeter came back to life, but never exceeded 25 amps. It would jump around a bit, then go back to 0. Never registered charge for more than 25-30 seconds. When it registered, needle of ammeter was jumping between 0 and 25 amps erratically. Volt meter read between 13 and 13.5 volts. Meter was not erratic, but could be style of meter. In dash volt meter also read between 13 and 13.5 volts, with no erratic action (once had a loose connection inside a battery cell that made the volt meter go nuts).
According to SELOC manual, amperage should be over 50, especially over 2000RPM. In checking wiring, noticed a wire that was too close to exhaust manifold had melted, but did not appear to have ground out. Fixed wire, checked all I could see.
Here's what I'm thinking: 1)could a ground or other "high load" cause this problem? 2)Voltage regulator seems to be an issue, but alternator was professionally re-built last year--could "high load" burn out regulator? When it stops raining, plan to test orange wire--runs to 60 amp breaker and is then distributed to another breaker, starter relay, and main plug. Should I just test to breaker? Any suggestions on tracking down "high resistance"? Any way to temporarily by-pass orange wire? I've read elsewhere that these issues are generally NOT alternator problems, but some phantom load freaking out the voltage regulator. . .
Thanks so much for the help!