bad alternator?

[96Saleen]

hello everyone, i have a 96 mustang saleen and have been having some problems with the electric system in her latley. i put a new battery in it and a new alternator, but when i start the car up the alt is not charging the battery at all. when the car is running in getting 11.8 volts off the battery. the car will only run until the battery dies. i checked all the wiring on the charging system and that does not seem to be an issue. does anyone have any idea on what could be doing this? also i had some manifold work done a couple months ago so im wondering if he forgot to connect a ground somewhere that is draining the system.

any help is always appreciated, thank you!

 

[Mustangcwo]

If you're not seeing 13 - 14 volts on the battery with the car running, then the alternator is not putting out. If you checked all your connections, and they are good, I would pull the alternator and take it to Autozone for testing. They will test it for free and then you can decide where to go from there.

 

[96Saleen]

i had the alternator tested yesterday and it came up good.

 

[Mustangcwo]

Then you have a wiring problem. This makes the problem 100% more difficult and you will need to find a diagram to see how the wiring is connected. Or, take it back to the guy who changed out your intake and make him fix the problem. Obviously, he did not complete the work correctly. That's exactly what I would do.

 

[96Saleen]

thats the next step, the only problem is that the car ran for about 100 miles after the work and then sat for 8 months while i was on deployment. i checked the engine ground and it was connected and strong. if i let the car sit with the charged battery hooked upo in the car, it will start up and run until the battery dies, so im sure i dont have a drain. does anyone have any ideas?

 

[DrunkFatguy]

I have a 96 Ford Tech CD I got way back when I was working at Ford, It doesn't copy and paste very well nor transfer Images well either but. Looking at it I can see a Black/orange wire that comes off and leads to a 12 Gauge Fuseable link leading back to the Battery + (Which is what comes from the Diodes in the rectifier that sends the charge voltage back to the battery) after the link it turns to a grey wire that leads to an engine compartment 20 Amp fuse for the Alternator which is also fed from a red wire coming directly from the Batt +. The wire changes color again after the 20 amp fuse for the Alt in the eng compartment to a yellow white wire that leads back to the Alt. The light green/red wire is for the charge indicator, the white/black wire goes between the regulator and the stator as a jumper(check for Continuity here). Personally I'd check at the Fusible link to see if it has been blown, they are to the rear of the battery. Hope My Ramble helps out some.

 

[DSGimportslayer]

what size alternator is it?

 

[crossbreedgt]

You may also want to check the smaller ground that is above the drivers side headlight. It should be fastened by a small screw into the frame and above the plastic shroud that hides the headlight internals. Btw -
The alternator you have may be perfectly fine and fit perfect but the wrong one. I had to buy 3 from autozone before I got the right one.. Because most sales people / mechanic types don't know the following;
Your VIN# identifies if you have an "F" model sn95 or the other "?" model. For 94-98 Stangs there were a few almost identical alternators issued depending on the factory it was built at and trim of your vehicle.
For example, my VIN starts off: 1FALP.. Where the "F" is your identifier.
My car had the same problem as yours until I got the right one. Honestly I would find your receipt or ask to swap out the alternator and make sure the new/refurb'd one is the right model.
This is THE most direct way to ensure it's not the alt.

 

[05ms.stang]

my personal opinion is i think its a fuse a ground or like others have said the alternator might not be the right one if u get a too small of an alternator it wont circulate everything like its suppose too if its to big well ur battery might get to much of a charge an can explode u gotta have the right alternator for the right components it doesnt just happen in stangs it happens in any car and i think if ur gonna work at an auto parts store u need more experience than to run a computer an know names of cars, i think u should know general mechanics, brand names, models, and sub model other wise things just get messed up anyway hope my meaningless ramble helped good luck with ur car

 

[RonaldJamesThickness]

also i had a similar problem with my v6 and i swapped batteries and alternators and i still had a problem and it turned out to be the ground wire coming off the battery it was corroded to hell if u see green powder then its corroded if thats the case cut off the ground connector and get a new one unless u have the bolt on style in which case unhook it and cut the corroded wire off and put a little motor oil on it and put it back together and it should work just fine (the motor oil prevents any further corrosion)

 

[05ms.stang]

this is why things should be made out of titanium but then again titanium isnt really a conductor

 

[RonaldJamesThickness]

this is why things should be made out of titanium but then again titanium isnt really a conductor

lol but then cars would cost a metric sh!t ton more lol

 

[05ms.stang]

yea but imagine the quality and how much money u could actually save in the long run lol

 

[RonaldJamesThickness]

thats true i wouldnt mind having a titanium engine

 

[05ms.stang]

thats what i was thinkin if i knew how to work with the stuff n had the resources id make one lol