Alternator or battery?

Russbo said:
... At home I measured the parasitic drain and AIR it was about 0.7 ampere (700 milliamps) ...
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That would be way to high for an acceptable drain. The service manual says anything over 50 mA is a failure, the actual expected typical figure is 20 to 30 mA, and that's what mine were at.
700 mA is about the expected value before the car goes to sleep, so I am going to assume that you made your measurement with the car's electronics still awake, or you awoke it breaking the battery connection to test the current.
To do it right, you have to insert the meter and then not open/close any door/hood/trunk, or press any buttons and wait for 30 minutes before looking at the current reading. (With newer cars, you also have to keep the smart key(s) away for the whole time too.)
 
These parasitic drains are a real bear to find!
As joegr mentions you need to get the car to go to sleep and then STAY asleep while you check the circuits for amperage.

What I finally did was get a clamp on DC ammeter that reads down to .01 ma. (There are a number of these and I paid about $100 for mine) Now I don't need to break into the circuit and insert my meter in line. Which is dangerous to your meter because now ALL the current must travel through the meter and then into the car. If you make a mistake like trying to start the car this way you can very easily fry your meter!

I can't believe how easy it is to run thru a bunch of circuits by simply clamping and unclamping my meter. Plus now I can see how much current the car takes to start and see how many amps are going into the battery. A very useful meter to me!
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clubairth said:
These parasitic drains are a real bear to find!
As joegr mentions you need to get the car to go to sleep and then STAY asleep while you check the circuits for amperage.

What I finally did was get a clamp on DC ammeter that reads down to .01 ma. (There are a number of these and I paid about $100 for mine) Now I don't need to break into the circuit and insert my meter in line. Which is dangerous to your meter because now ALL the current must travel through the meter and then into the car. If you make a mistake like trying to start the car this way you can very easily fry your meter!

I can't believe how easy it is to run thru a bunch of circuits by simply clamping and unclamping my meter. Plus now I can see how much current the car takes to start and see how many amps are going into the battery. A very useful meter to me!
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Can you post a picture of your meter and where you purchased it? I have never seen one that reads that small. Thanks in advance.
 
I looked for a while to find mine and now there are a number of them that can read that low. But the price has gone up quite a bit on the one I use? I paid around a $100 but maybe you could find a used meter too? They are on EBay.

GTC CM100. About $170 currently. I will say the ease of use and how quick I can go thru a car without disturbing ANY wiring is golden!

.001A DC Clamp On Meter

Meter.jpg

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04_Sport_LS said:
This may be a good one.

AMP Clamp/Multimeter | OTC Tools

My older Wavetec Meterman does it all, (including temp readings), and has the Amp clamp. I could also hook it up to a Windows laptop for multiple display readings.

OTC bought out Wavetec a number of years ago.
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I may pick up this one:
Amazon product ASIN B00RGN5UAY
BTW I put a brand new Ford battery in and now working solidly. Voltage after sitting couple days in cold is 12.35 Car starts right up and runs great. Battery cost about 30% more than last one I bought, 7 years ago.
 
Car's been starting and running great since new battery. I ran forscan on it to try to find something I can do to increase mpg. Getting 17.0 in mixed driving. Not good. Forscan did show "Error" on one 'side' of fuel system. No further info. :(
 
heyjewel said:
Car's been starting and running great since new battery. I ran forscan on it to try to find something I can do to increase mpg. Getting 17.0 in mixed driving. Not good. Forscan did show "Error" on one 'side' of fuel system. No further info. :(
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Hey George, that 17.0 mixed seems pretty normal for our getrags.

The best I ever got on the highway was around 22, but it was usually 21 or 20 when I was checking. Had you seen better numbers in the past? I used to see a 1 or 2 mpg improvement after a spark plug change.
 
milehighmikey said:
Hey George, that 17.0 mixed seems pretty normal for our getrags.

The best I ever got on the highway was around 22, but it was usually 21 or 20 when I was checking. Had you seen better numbers in the past? I used to see a 1 or 2 mpg improvement after a spark plug change.
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Hi Mikey. Yes my mileage historically has been 20-22. At $4.79 for reg (yesterday) I seriously want to improve mpg. Also, how to pursue that 'error' in Fuel System 2. Forscan has no more info on it that I can find.
Hey hope all's well with you and your getrag LS!
 
I drove normal on the freeway once and my v8 got 24, but it averages 14 the way I usually drove it, ha
 
heyjewel said:
Hi Mikey. Yes my mileage historically has been 20-22. At $4.79 for reg (yesterday) I seriously want to improve mpg. Also, how to pursue that 'error' in Fuel System 2. Forscan has no more info on it that I can find.
Hey hope all's well with you and your getrag LS!
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Yikes. I just paid 3.589 for 93 octane this morning in MA. And my LS days are over. Time to sell the Getrag for parts or whatever. I now own 3 boosted Subarus lol.
 
milehighmikey said:
Yikes. I just paid 3.589 for 93 octane this morning in MA. And my LS days are over. Time to sell the Getrag for parts or whatever. I now own 3 boosted Subarus lol.
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Between pres brandon and our gov newscum our gas prices are horrendous. :(
LS going - All Things Must Pass - George Harrison.
I'm using mine now as a cold weather car since the AC is real flaky. Gonna store it during the summer!
I went to an autocross with LLSOC when cars were fairly new. Many cars were there incl BMWs and Subies. My LS was getting times very close to the above. I was a novice. One of the BMW dudes wanted to drive the LS. I let him and he really pushed it and pronounced it almost a BMW.
 
When your alternator failed on a Gen2, did anyone also loose their Power Steering? That just happened to me starting the engine on a super cold morning this past week. Combo of...Charging Sys Fault message, batt light, power steering gone, and dim lights.
 
06LS Greek said:
When your alternator failed on a Gen2, did anyone also loose their Power Steering? That just happened to me starting the engine on a super cold morning this past week. Combo of...Charging Sys Fault message, batt light, power steering gone, and dim lights.
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Also any ideas on the highest quality longest lasting brand alternator to use...
 
Thanks for the heads-up on that. Will check the tensioner pulley once I get all the stuff out of the way to get to the belt. Was reading up a bit on alternator failures and there is some anecdotal evidence that using an AGM Battery might extend alternator life because the voltage levels in an AGM are more stable over life compared to non-AGM batteries.
 
Possible, however I'd say a new alternator at this point in its life will probably out last the rest of the car regardless of what kind of battery is on it, ha
 
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