Trouble with alternator B4C

[Tprwells]

My '02 b4c voltage gauge was bouncing around 14 volts along with all the lights flickering with it. So I replaced the thing (thinking it was about to go out) with the stock 102 amp, rather then the 200amp which the Highway Patrol put on there to run all the lights and computers. Now the meter is down to 9-12 volts and lights look dim but are not. Turn signals are very slow and not as they once were before the alternator change (example). Any one give me a direction to travel? The battery bad now because the alternator was screwed up? Car runs normal but gauge is just lower then it was before the change. This normal becasue it's a smaller alternator then what the car was desgined for? Help me guys...lol

[0rion]

the quickest way to check it would be to put a volt meter set on dc volts across the battery....should be in the neighborhood of 14.4 volts. Check all connections for corrosion and tightness while you're at it.

[volleybill]

Yeah, the 'new' alternator isn't working, or installed incorrectly

Aside, the earlier LT1 B4C's had a 140 amp alternator from the factory- the LS1's didn't get an upgraded alternator, though I have been told that a truck alternator (160 amps?) will fit- haven't checked that out, yet-

[volleybill]

If you care about true info, check out:
http://www.9c1.com/brochures/2002/02_b4c.pdf

9C1 is RPO code for the Caprice police car- this site has copies of all the special-service dealer brochures for Caprices, Camaros and Tahoes- shows the LS1 B4C alternator as being 105 amps, where the LT1 B4C was 140. Believe me, I looked into upgrading mine- the B4C did come with a power steering cooler and the performance axle- good stuff.

[RARON455]

If you do replace the alternator do not get one from autozone, I went thru 4 or 5 the longest lasting one lasted about 2 weeks, before I made them give me my money back, I went to oreillys and bought a new one for about 40 dollars more and have never had another problem trust me on this one, I told the guys at autozone I did not think a lifetime warranty meant I would be changing the alternator for the rest of my life..

[jad628]

My '02 b4c voltage gauge was bouncing around 14 volts along with all the lights flickering with it. So I replaced the thing (thinking it was about to go out) with the stock 102 amp, rather then the 200amp which the Highway Patrol put on there to run all the lights and computers. Now the meter is down to 9-12 volts and lights look dim but are not. Turn signals are very slow and not as they once were before the alternator change (example). Any one give me a direction to travel? The battery bad now because the alternator was screwed up? Car runs normal but gauge is just lower then it was before the change. This normal becasue it's a smaller alternator then what the car was desgined for? Help me guys...lol

Like was mentioned earlier, take a multimeter and run the positive (red) to the alternator and the ground (black)to the negative side of the battery. You should be in the neighborhood of 14-14.4 volts (car running at idle), although a little less like 13.5 can occur with some vehicles. It's important that the alternator has higher voltage than the battery (12 volts), or you aren't getting a charge and draining the battery. I had this happen on a 4.6 T-bird and when you get down to around 10 volts, the system shuts itself down to keep from damaging electronics. Meaning the engine cuts off, so the 9 volt reading is probably just an inaccurate gauge.

If the battery has any age to it, I would suspect there is your problem. I've heard of many reports that when you change the alternator, a weakened battery will tend to go bad fairly quickly, even develop a dead cell. That might explain your low voltage.

Edit: I've had similar issues with Auto Zone alternators. On my T-Bird, I went through three of them, and it was always a bad internal voltage regulator. Most (maybe all) newer model cars did away with the separate voltage regulator, and it seems like that ends up being why the "all-in-one" alternators go bad....usually.

1* bro!!!