2001 Sephia Alternator

Thoroughly clean both battery terminals and the ground strap to the motor.
Have your battery tested at an auto parts store that offers free testing
(checking for a shorted or dead cell). Remove, clean and reseat the plug in
your alternator (it goes to the voltage regulator). If none of this makes a
difference then it sounds like your voltage regulator inside your alternator
is going south - time to replace the alternator.

Cheers - Jonathan

"Michael Bromley" <mbromley.RemoveThis@REMOVE.THIS.adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:VoKdnQZ_-rKmp0XfRVn-3A@adelphia.com...
>I have a 2001 Sephia that, I think, has a bad alternator. With a new fully
>charged battery I read a normal 12.5 volts. After I start the car the
>voltage increases to 13.7. Again, normal. If I increase the engine speed
>to between 1500 and 2000 RPM the voltage at the battery terminals drops
>back to 12.5. Not normal. If you drive the car long enough the battery
>will eventually be discharged.
>
> I took it to the dealer and they said there is nothing wrong with it.
>
> As far as I'm concerned I thing the alternator is toast. Am I on the
> right track or am I way off base?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
>
 >> Stay informed about: 2001 Sephia Alternator 

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I had already done the basic stuff like
checking all the connectors, etc. and after that had my regular mechanic
check it out. He agrees that it is probably the alternator but what is
curious is why the charging indicator light on the dash doesn't come on. In
fact the service manager at the dealership was trying to tell me that it
couldn't be the alternator because the light wasn't on. I told him that I
hoped that wasn't his primary diagnostic tool for troubleshooting charging
problems. Once I finally got the chance to describe the exact symptoms they
agreed to look at it again on Monday.

Mike
 >> Stay informed about: 2001 Sephia Alternator 

"Michael Bromley" <mbromley.TakeThisOut@REMOVE.THIS.adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:9LadnS-kW_6PdUffRVn-rw@adelphia.com...
| Thanks for the feedback, guys. I had already done the basic stuff like
| checking all the connectors, etc. and after that had my regular mechanic
| check it out. He agrees that it is probably the alternator but what is
| curious is why the charging indicator light on the dash doesn't come on.
In
| fact the service manager at the dealership was trying to tell me that it
| couldn't be the alternator because the light wasn't on. I told him that I
| hoped that wasn't his primary diagnostic tool for troubleshooting charging
| problems. Once I finally got the chance to describe the exact symptoms
they
| agreed to look at it again on Monday.
|
| Mike
|

Mike,

You're quite correct with that - the dashboard light is not an ultimate
diagnostic for the state of the alternator. This light responds to the rotor
excitation and voltage regulator, which may still be 100% OK, but if one or
more of the diodes in the three phase bridge rectifier happens to go, then
the DC output will drop off accordingly, and likely to a level that is
insufficient to simultaneously supply the cars running requirements and
charge the battery.

I recommend that you take the car to an auto-electrical service place
instead of the KIA dealer, and they may replace only the bridge rectifier
(which is cheap), or they may only deal in rebuild or new exchange complete
alternators.

The fact that you can run for a considerable time on a fully charged
battery, should indicate you have a healthy battery.

Adam.
 >> Stay informed about: 2001 Sephia Alternator 

"Michael Bromley" <mbromley.TakeThisOut@REMOVE.THIS.adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:9LadnS-kW_6PdUffRVn-rw@adelphia.com...
| Thanks for the feedback, guys. I had already done the basic stuff like
| checking all the connectors, etc. and after that had my regular mechanic
| check it out. He agrees that it is probably the alternator but what is
| curious is why the charging indicator light on the dash doesn't come on.
In
| fact the service manager at the dealership was trying to tell me that it
| couldn't be the alternator because the light wasn't on. I told him that I
| hoped that wasn't his primary diagnostic tool for troubleshooting charging
| problems. Once I finally got the chance to describe the exact symptoms
they
| agreed to look at it again on Monday.
|
| Mike
|

Mike,

You're quite correct with that - the dashboard light is not an ultimate
diagnostic for the state of the alternator. This light responds to the rotor
excitation and voltage regulator, which may still be 100% OK, but if one or
more of the diodes in the three phase bridge rectifier happens to go, then
the DC output will drop off accordingly, and likely to a level that is
insufficient to simultaneously supply the cars running requirements and
charge the battery.

I recommend that you take the car to an auto-electrical service place
instead of the KIA dealer, and they may replace only the bridge rectifier
(which is cheap), or they may only deal in rebuild or new exchange complete
alternators.

The fact that you can run for a considerable time on a fully charged
battery, should indicate you have a healthy battery.

Adam.
 >> Stay informed about: 2001 Sephia Alternator 

"Michael Bromley" <mbromley DeleteThis @REMOVE.THIS.adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:VoKdnQZ_-rKmp0XfRVn-3A@adelphia.com...
>I have a 2001 Sephia that, I think, has a bad alternator. With a new fully
>charged battery I read a normal 12.5 volts. After I start the car the
>voltage increases to 13.7. Again, normal. If I increase the engine speed
>to between 1500 and 2000 RPM the voltage at the battery terminals drops
>back to 12.5. Not normal. If you drive the car long enough the battery
>will eventually be discharged.
>
> I took it to the dealer and they said there is nothing wrong with it.
>
> As far as I'm concerned I thing the alternator is toast. Am I on the
> right track or am I way off base?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
>

Persistence pays. Apparently my chat with the Service Manager on Friday was
worth it. I must have convinced them to test the alternator output at
cruise RPM because they replaced the alternator yesterday. Since it was
still under warranty there was no charge. I'm getting a pretty consistent
14.2 out of it through out a range of engine speeds even when I add load by
turning on the headlights and the fan on full.

Mike
 >> Stay informed about: 2001 Sephia Alternator