Battery Drain after fuel pump replacement

[kman71]

Ok, Just replaced the fuel pump with a walbro 340, fuel filter, hotwire kit, 60 lb injectors, and 5.6 turbo tweak chip. The car fired right up, great idle and no hesitation now. After driving it a bit, I noticed the batter gauge was at about 10 and seemed to be dropping down to around 8. Stopped for a while, and when I went back to start again it was dead, well not enough juice to turn the car over, lights and everything else worked. The only other mod was remote locks but they worked fine and battery was fine at 13 volts normally before the mods. The batter is a new red top optima replaced in December of 2010. I pulled the battery, charged it back up and put it back in. Started up and volts were at 10 to start but after running for about 1 hour it was back down to 8. This morning there was not enough juice again to turn over and had to jump it again. Went to Advance auto and put a new optima in and it read at 10 volts too but seemed to hold the voltage. Does the hotwire kit to the alternator draw that much direct from the battery? Is there a way to figure out if it is the battery or alternator is the problem? The alternator is stock? The radio is stock so the only thing drawing anything extra or different now is the hotwire kit. Anyone else run into this or have any advice? I just ordred the 200 amp chrome alternator from gnpowermasters on ebay hoping that would solve the issue with more amps. Am I on the right track here?

 

[Chuck Leeper]

Check the alt output w/ a volt meter.
Look to make sure you have a dash lite [alt] when you turn the key on.
If the bulb is burned out.. no alt exciter voltage.
Check the small wire/plug on the alt, too.
Assuming the hotwire kit is on correctly, that will not run the batt down.
Constant volt dropping says alt is not working...

 

[Razor]

You have a bad alternator. Stock replacement should be fine.

Test.. start car and put meter on back of alternator. If it reads 13-14volts.. alternator is working. If it reads 12 or below.. its bad.

Advance/Autozone will test for free.

 

[kman71]

UPDATE:
Changed the alternator today. My first major car type repair ever. Took me a while, and I would never make any money as a mechanic, but I got the job done. And the TTA is back to normal. Feels good to do something and it works right.

Thanks to everyone for the quick responses and help with this. You guys are the best.

Kris

 

[kman71]

UPDATE: on the 5th alternator now

UPDATE:

Ok, I am going on my 5th alternator now. The first one went after adding a new Walbro fuel pump, 60 lb injectors, and turbo tweak chip. Installed a new remanned 120 amp duralast from autozone and it fired right up, up to 13.5 volts and ran fine for about a month then went bad, installed another remanned duralast from autozone since it was free under warrenty, it lasted about another month, now i have replaced three in the past week since the extreme heat hit here in Chicago, just two yesterday. Yesterday, it fired up to 13 volts right away, sounded funny, hissing, running and smoking a bit and then dropped down to 9-10 volts again, replaced it last night, fired it up this morning and this one never even made it past 10 volts. The battery is a optima that was new December 2010. It charges back to 12 volts everytime. I have replaced the battery once too, and still had the same problems with the alternator, so i returned it. Since adding the fuel pump, i have also added hid lights to the fogs and headlights, upgraded the stereo including a small 4 channel amp and a small 8" powered subwoofer. I have blown no fuses at all during these problems. Has anyone else had these type of problems? Is the stock 120 amp alternator too small for all the upgrades, or are the remanned ones from autozone just not that good, would a 200 amp or more alternator sold the problems, or is there a drain somewhere in the wiring? The good thing is I can now change the alternator in less than an hour. LOL

 

[kman71]

UPDATE:

Ok, I am going on my 5th alternator now. The first one went after adding a new Walbro fuel pump, 60 lb injectors, and turbo tweak chip. Installed a new remanned 120 amp duralast from autozone and it fired right up, up to 13.5 volts and ran fine for about a month then went bad, installed another remanned duralast from autozone since it was free under warrenty, it lasted about another month, now i have replaced three in the past week since the extreme heat hit here in Chicago, just two yesterday. Yesterday, it fired up to 13 volts right away, sounded funny, hissing, running and smoking a bit and then dropped down to 9-10 volts again, replaced it last night, fired it up this morning and this one never even made it past 10 volts. The battery is a optima that was new December 2010. It charges back to 12 volts everytime. I have replaced the battery once too, and still had the same problems with the alternator, so i returned it. Since adding the fuel pump, i have also added hid lights to the fogs and headlights, upgraded the stereo including a small 4 channel amp and a small 8" powered subwoofer. I have blown no fuses at all during these problems. Has anyone else had these type of problems? Is the stock 120 amp alternator too small for all the upgrades, or are the remanned ones from autozone just not that good, would a 200 amp or more alternator sold the problems, or is there a drain somewhere in the wiring? The good thing is I can now change the alternator in less than an hour. LOL

UPDATE:
OK, I am a sucker for punishment changing out the alternator 3 times on the hottest days of summer, but just finished installing another remanned Duralast unit under warranty from Autozone. This one works, fired right up, read 12.7 volts on the scanmaster and 13.7 at the battery on the voltmeter. The voltage would drop about .5 volts momentarily when I powered down the windows and turned on the fogs and headlamps but would return to around 12.7. After it warmed up, I got on the throttle and the voltage dropped 1 volt down to 11.7 but when I cruised it returned to 12.7. I am a little concerned, the voltage on the gage in the car was not at or above 13, just slightly under, that is usually when I notice a problem, plus the alternator had a slightly burning smell to it too.
Just looking for advice, do these conditions and readings seem normal? Would a higher, 200, or 225 amp alternator solve these issues? Is it just a bad brand of alternators? Or do I have a drain or loose wire or ground somewhere? Any advise on how to trouble shoot? My other TTA, Rayder is heavily modified but appears to have a stock alternator and it has no problems firing up and maintaining voltage every time.

 

[Jan Larsson]

Strange problem, I would disconnect the amps and other mods and see if you still have a problem running it "stock" for a while.

 

[kman71]

UPDATE:

I finally solved my alternator problems, I think it was a combination of poor quality Duralast Alternators from Autozone and too much load on the system with all the mods. I bought an upgraded 240amp Alternator from turbobuicks.com that is powder coated black made specifically for the TTA. It works awesome and looks great too. A word of caution though if you buy one of these or upgrade your alternator. The new one has a smaller pulley than the original even though it said it was a replica and bolt on. The smaller pulley gives more slack to the belt and the two pulleys beneath will rub against each other, metal to metal, makes a terrible screaching noise, not good and the alternator will not work as well. So you will have to change the belt to a 1" smaller one and it works perfect. I got one from CarQuest (NO MORE AUTOZONE FOR ME), model #K060620. Hope this helps anyone that has similar alternator problems in the future.

 

[kman71]

UPDATE:

OK, I am at my wits end with this. Got home from vacation and my wife drove the car on Monday after sitting for a week, no problem. Yesterday, I get in, and it is dead. Battery low, so I go buy a new battery and it fires right up. With the car running, the battery is at 13.3- 13.5 volts on the voltmeter and also 13.3-13.5 at the back of the alternator, but in the car, the gauge reads about 11, and on the scan master it bounces slowly from 11.2 to 10.6, that is with nothing on, radio, lights, a/c, turn on the radio, lights, windows, voltage droops a bit but returns to 11.2-10.6 range.

Is this within normal range? This just doesn't seem right though and now I am afraid to drive it anywhere and get stranded. It was working fine at around 13 volts before this. It seems something is draining the system, a short or ground, but no fuses are blowing.

Anyone have any suggestions? Troubleshooting tips?
Or does anyone know a good electrical troubleshooter in the Chicagoland area that has experience with these type of cars. I am very leary of bringing it to just anyone.

Thanks for the help again.

 

[80/89TTA]

You need to go back and retrace everything you installed and find the problem in the wiring or connections...especially grounds. I know the chain stores struggle with quality, at times, but the amount of altenators you went through is impossible for them all to be bad. Also there is never a need for a larger altenator than you can use. Keep in mind the new cars with ALL the electronic gizmos in the world with giant factory stereo systems are usually in the 140 to 165 range.
Re-check your work even if you have to unistall it.

 

[Turbo Loyd]

I would replace the 8 gage wire from the alternator to the battery with 6 gage wire and make sure the ring style blade connector that bolts to the alternator is very clean and not corroded. Do not use thin ring blade connectors at that location, but use barrel lug style connectors that use thicker metal. Since the output post is connected to the diode bridge, heat at that connection kills diode packs very quickly. The diode closest to the output post going bad is a sign of a bad electrical connection.

I typically soldier the barrel lug to the output wire, and coat that connector with soldier to prevent corrosion

I went through a similar hassle some time ago.

 

[dwhess504]

I just went throught the SAME thing witht he SAME Mods!!!! I really think it is the hotwire kit that draws to many Amps. I even saw the alternator spark in the inside and then not work anymore. IT was a brand new alternator too. So I unhooked the Hotwire kit and bam voltage is great!

I burned up my original alternator, then one from Orielys, then put a duralast on without the hotwire kit and all is good.

Wierd thing is my original alternator tested "good" at Autozone, but didnt put out anything when i put it back on the car. Just an odd fact. not sure how much i trust those machines/employees

 

[Chuck Leeper]

I just went throught the SAME thing witht he SAME Mods!!!! I really think it is the hotwire kit that draws to many Amps. I even saw the alternator spark in the inside and then not work anymore. IT was a brand new alternator too. So I unhooked the Hotwire kit and bam voltage is great!

I burned up my original alternator, then one from Orielys, then put a duralast on without the hotwire kit and all is good.

Wierd thing is my original alternator tested "good" at Autozone, but didnt put out anything when i put it back on the car. Just an odd fact. not sure how much i trust those machines/employees

Sorry, the hotwire kit does not "draw too many amps". The device, the way it's connected, etc, can cause hi amp draw.

 

[tta983]

I have been using the Walbro 340 with the hotwire kit for a while now, no problems at all! The hotwire kit does not draw too many amps or put a strain on the alternator. It is a good set up if it is installed properly.