Alternator problem?

[V10SpeedLuvr]

My car is causing me a McHeadache! A couple weeks ago my dash and headlights were flickering. I figured alternator. A few minutes later, we find a puddle of oil under the car. Turns out to be a leaking oil cooler line. Possibilty was mentioned that the lights were flickering because oil had dropped onto the serp. belt, causing it to slip and the alternator to not run properly. I ended up having both oil cooler lines and the oil cooler replaced (long story). Before they did the work this morning, he said the car had to be jumped off. It had sat up for a while without being cranked, so no surprise there. On the testdrive, the tech said the car shut off with him while coasting up to a redlight. It fired right back up however. He checked my alternator and battery when he got back. The battery showed good, but the alternator was putting out 13.8 volts at idle and 13.7 when he put a load on it. He said it most likely needs an alternator because the volts shouldve spiked when he put a load on it, instead of falling like they did. Does that sound right? Any other ideas? TIA

 

[Copernicus]

I am assuming he performed the voltage test of the alternator on the car? If so, I would suggest pulling it and testing it independently. This way you can verify if it is indeed the alternator or voltage leaking out through a bad ground or connection.

 

[Martin]

That diagnosis sounds a little weird to me - it sounds like your voltage regulator is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. If he was coasting to a stop and it died, the last thing I would look at is the alternator. Even if the alternator completely died, the battery would run the coils for a long, long, time.

Did they look at all the usual problems like the connections to the battery, main grounds, and coil power connections? If it died all at once, and then fired right back up, it's likely a main connection somewhere, and there are only a few places to check. Please don't let them **** you around with swapping the alternator, etc., until they figure out the cause. The Socratic method isn't the way techs should diagnose problems...

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

I drove it home today with no problems. I popped it in neutral a couple times seeing if it'd die and it never did. It drove flawlessly. I did find out that my oil is overfilled by about 1/4" past the safe line. Its been driven a semi-hard 60 miles today before I noticed it was overfilled. I'm going to drain it down to the proper capacity tomorrow before I drive it anymore. Any chance any damage was done in the 60 miles I drove it w/it overfilled?

 

[99 R/T 10]

Should be no problem with so little amount. Don't worry about it, just drive it

 

[Martin]

A little tiny extra amount of oil is absolutely no big deal - unless of course the reading is because you have a head gasket or timing chain cover leak... But, that scare aside, you will be fine. I'd talk to that tech and ask them what their logic is in diagnosing your problems. If they're a good tech, they'll have a sixth sense as to what is happening and they won't give you that "let's check this and lets check that" BS. Everything on these cars is basic cause and effect - and when anything happens, it's relatively easy for a trained professional to track it back and figure out what's going on.

Ask them how many years they've been working on Vipers, and whether they went through the certification class... It does make a difference, especially if the tech has some good natural born skills to begin with.

 

[Bolt]

Check the battery temperature sensor. Mine did exactly what yours is doing and once I found this part bad and replaced it all my charging issues went away. I don’t even run a battery tender anymore. My car would stall too, sometimes buck at low rpms. Not any more! This sensor is cheep. Something like $25. Be sure to buy the one for the Viper. Not an aftermarket one.

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[mike & juli]

I drove it home today with no problems. I popped it in neutral a couple times seeing if it'd die and it never did. It drove flawlessly. I did find out that my oil is overfilled by about 1/4" past the safe line. Its been driven a semi-hard 60 miles today before I noticed it was overfilled. I'm going to drain it down to the proper capacity tomorrow before I drive it anymore. Any chance any damage was done in the 60 miles I drove it w/it overfilled?

So, do you think all the problems were taken care of, Chad?? No problem with the battery/alternator anymore? HAVE FUN DRIVING--good to have it back, huh?!! ~juli~