Leave it to me to have weird problems, but here goes.
I swapped in a CS-130 alternator a few months ago, and have driven the thing a fair amount the last few months with no issue. Everything positive to say about the swap in general.
First off, this is a parts store piece (autolite) so I don't expect GM quality, but it is lifetime warranty at least.
Vehicle was driven in the wet/cold/dirt for two weeks straight. (engine bay looked clean) Then driven home and parked in a garage. After sitting a couple of days, started vehicle, moved it around some to get trailer hooked up, no problems.
Started to pull out of the driveway, hear just a tiny bit of belt squeal. Figured it was power steering, it's been acting up a bit. As I start to turn, belt squeal starts to get worse, from infrequent to frequent. Finally starts squealing constantly, as I reach for the key I glance at the gauges. The voltmeter is past 18, "check engine" light is on. (no doubt for overvoltage) Shut it down, immediately pop the hood, look over the engine bay for any smoke, etc. Nothing visibly wrong. Jiggle the alternator wiring, check the engine side of the fuse block, all good. Battery cables aren't hot, battery isn't either.
Get back into truck after maybe two minutes of inspection, turn key to run, voltmeter is reading normal, so I fire it up. Voltage is back to normal. Proceed to drive it for about two hours, and no problems.
When the problem happened, load on the electrical system was low...no lights, radio, etc. Just the injection and the ignition. I'm thinking it had to be the voltage regulator, my understanding is that they are "computerized" on these, and that for some reason it decided to put out too much. It's a 5 groove belt/pulley on the alternator, so it was definitely exacting a serious load to slip, the gauge wasn't lying.
Just curious if any other CS-series alternator owners have seen similar? I expect the regulator is going to die one of these days soon, but since it's intermittent I know that taking it back is going to be worthless, as it will bench test fine at this point.
I swapped in a CS-130 alternator a few months ago, and have driven the thing a fair amount the last few months with no issue. Everything positive to say about the swap in general.
First off, this is a parts store piece (autolite) so I don't expect GM quality, but it is lifetime warranty at least.
Vehicle was driven in the wet/cold/dirt for two weeks straight. (engine bay looked clean) Then driven home and parked in a garage. After sitting a couple of days, started vehicle, moved it around some to get trailer hooked up, no problems.
Started to pull out of the driveway, hear just a tiny bit of belt squeal. Figured it was power steering, it's been acting up a bit. As I start to turn, belt squeal starts to get worse, from infrequent to frequent. Finally starts squealing constantly, as I reach for the key I glance at the gauges. The voltmeter is past 18, "check engine" light is on. (no doubt for overvoltage) Shut it down, immediately pop the hood, look over the engine bay for any smoke, etc. Nothing visibly wrong. Jiggle the alternator wiring, check the engine side of the fuse block, all good. Battery cables aren't hot, battery isn't either.
Get back into truck after maybe two minutes of inspection, turn key to run, voltmeter is reading normal, so I fire it up. Voltage is back to normal. Proceed to drive it for about two hours, and no problems.
When the problem happened, load on the electrical system was low...no lights, radio, etc. Just the injection and the ignition. I'm thinking it had to be the voltage regulator, my understanding is that they are "computerized" on these, and that for some reason it decided to put out too much. It's a 5 groove belt/pulley on the alternator, so it was definitely exacting a serious load to slip, the gauge wasn't lying.
Just curious if any other CS-series alternator owners have seen similar? I expect the regulator is going to die one of these days soon, but since it's intermittent I know that taking it back is going to be worthless, as it will bench test fine at this point.
