The alternator is a remarkable device that transforms mechanical energy from your engine into AC electrical energy for the rest of your car. While your engine’s running, every electrical component is powered by the alternator, including the engine’s ignition coils and spark plugs. If your alternator malfunctions, you’ll soon notice one or more of the following issues. You can have prompt alternator repair carried out at your local dealer.
Your Battery Fails to Recharge
When a bad alternator fails to recharge the battery during your drive, you might have trouble starting the engine again the next morning. But batteries also sometimes fail to recharge because they’ve reached the end of their lifespan.
To determine if your battery or alternator is at fault, jumpstart your car. When the engine’s on again, if it stays running, your alternator is fine and the battery may need replacing. But if the engine dies soon after your jumpstart, the alternator is probably the culprit.
Erratic or Dimming Headlights
When an alternator begins to falter, the car’s supply of electricity often becomes erratic. You might notice this in a fluctuating power to your headlights, causing them to grow alternatively brighter and dimmer. And eventually, they’ll lose brightness and fail altogether.
Slowing Electrical Accessories
The other electrical components in your car include the instrument panel’s dials and lights, air conditioning, power windows, power roof, windshield wipers, radio, speakers, heated seats, phone charger, and cabin lights. If you notice these components begin to slow or act strangely, there might be an interruption to the supply of voltage coming from your alternator.
Misfiring and Stalling Engine
The engine’s ignition coils and spark plugs require a steady voltage in order to ignite the fuel-air mixture inside the combustion chambers hundreds of times each minute. When that electrical power fails to come as readily, the spark plugs start misfiring.
Misfiring causes the engine to cough and judder. And a misfiring engine can no longer generate as much power, causing you to lose accelerative power. When pausing at traffic lights, your car might even stall.
Burning Rubber Smell
Alternator problems sometimes cause a burned rubber smell. This smell might be emitted from damaged wires connected to the alternator. It can also emit from a frayed and worn-out serpentine belt: the belt that transmits power from the engine’s crankshaft to the alternator.
How Your Local Dealer Tests Your Alternator
Alternator problems can rarely be identified by a visual inspection alone. Instead, a technician at your local dealership will use a multimeter to measure the voltage produced when your engine is running.
When working healthily, an alternator usually produces between 14.2 and 14.7 volts. This might fall to 13 or 14 volts when many electrical accessories are in use at once. But if the voltage ever drops below 13 volts, then the alternator is no longer producing enough power and will need to be repaired or replaced.
Have your car’s alternator inspected and repaired today at Tuttle-Click’s Tustin Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM in Tustin, CA. Our expertly trained service technicians are standing by to help ensure your vehicle is running in tip-top shape!
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