K11 Alternator problems, help needed

kristian

One Way Mule
well im stumped on this one guys..

Ive got an Alternator from a nissan K11 march with VERY low 20K miles on it..

Im not getting the charge needed from it..

While the car is idling the headlights and interior lights flicker...

This is fitted to my turbo car with the alternator brackets from a K11 MIcra/March with AIRCON so the alternator sits higher up and has an additional 'Spur' Pully to route the belt..

The 2 wires that run into to connecting block on the import alternator are a smaller gauge than my UK K11 ones.. this is the only difference I can see..

ANY ideas?
 

Gurpreet

Ex. Club Member
whats the multimeter reading? If its not charging then it sounds faulty.

if it is charging at I think its supposed to be 12-14.4v then try 4awg cable? particularly if you have a lot of ICE... but I doubt that cable would solve anything at this stage.. it sounds like the alternator.. if it is not then it may be a battery drain somewhere... a short or something and you can always start pulling fuses to verify that.

plenty of alternator threads here - have a search
 

Type-R

Ex. Club Member
hey kristian i was in this crap a year ago i can totally relate, i no what to do.

basically the alternator connecters HAVE To be the same as your exisiting alternator. i tried to swap around with k11 alternators none would work unless i used one with the same cable connectors!! i dnt no why but thats just the way it is. I smashed so many up on my car because the alternator sits really low on my set-up, and i had to bander around with loads of them.
 
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kristian

One Way Mule
Hi Type R... was yours a march initially?

Could you stick up a pic or send me a pic of your set up as I might change mine.. mine sits much higher now than the standard one does.. but your sits much lower? ..

Im gonna connect up a Voltage gauge to keep an eye on things for a while.. see how it changes..

My old Alternator had the Thick gauge Earth Lead which is attached with a 10mm Nut + A connector with 2 wires.. The New march alternator has the same 10mm Nut attachment and very similar 2 wire plug.. the plugs ARE different but it seems to work fine.. just not 100%...

Can someone give me a very simple way of checking how much power the alternator is generating and how much it should?..

It runs the car without the battery connected but the lights flicker noticable on idle.. and it miss fires noticably when under load..

( The battery is just behind the passenger seat so is easy to connect/disconnect )

Gurpreet- ive no expereance with voltmeters.. I avoid them like the plague! LOL

any help?

particularly if you have a lot of ICE...

just a basic:

2 Componants
2 6x9
1amp + Sub
 

Type-R

Ex. Club Member
im dnt have no fotos im not in london, but im telling you mate you need the same alternator connectors, as i even cut the wires and tried to make the new connectors fit and it still didnt work. You have to get the same alternator that matches the old one with the same connectors. I roughly remember one having a 10mm nut and the other is a clip, or something.
 

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
You dont need the same. All you need to get an alternator to work is to provide it with a field winding power and then it iwll generate on the output. They are all like this.
 

Type-R

Ex. Club Member
i tried two different alternators from a scrapyard which had different connectors, either each alternator was faulty then. As soon as he gave me the exact same type it worked straight away, we was using voltmeters to test whether they were holding charge when the battery was disco

they should just work theoratically i totally understand, maybe it was a coincidence but all i know is that when we used the correct alternator everything started working fine.
 

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
Thats totally fair enough. I have fitted various kind of alternators to my micras in the past from granadas bmws etc and they all worked where the alternator wasnt already broken :)
 

Gurpreet

Ex. Club Member
A good alternator will charge between 13-14.5volts. battery when not running will be 12 or over, discharged it will be 11.6 (i think) and dead will be er dead!

Dont use a battery tester! A proper multimetre or voltmetre set to v dc and ensure you let the voltage settle before you take a reading!
check voltage with car not running (12-13v), start car wait a few seconds check voltage with engine running (13.5-14.5v). turn on all lights, blowers and heated rear window, check voltage (11-12.5v). Report back what you find if your unsure.
- Wrenchable

Its quite easy to test... put the positive to the red terminal on the alternator and the negative to the outside... you will see the + sign anyway or be able to figure it out...

It runs the car without the battery connected but the lights flicker noticable on idle.. and it miss fires noticably when under load..
I'm not sure about that one but I think you need the battery connected! That way you can determine if it is the battery which is not charging, or an alternator problem be it charge or mounted incorrectly i.e. with different cables etc. as Type R said.
 
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kristian

One Way Mule
Thanks for the info guys..

I appriciate what ED is saying about them all being the same or doing the same job.. but ive tried a few now..

Your car should run fine without your battery attached, the alternaotr should generate enough power to run the car.. try it.. it works

The problem might be down to the battery being needed to regulate the power but with the battery being BRAND new Id have to start the car then fit a flat battery to see if the car is running and charging like it should..

..because it might be bleeding a supply from the battery and with it being new it will last a few days or a week even.. and then its only a matter of time before the battery dies..

Il work it out.. thanks guys
 

Type-R

Ex. Club Member
i no the alternator test, im just saying that in the case of the my previous two when i disconnected the battery the car would just cut off. Then i knew it was the alternators. So once i got the one i have now everything started working fine.

And yes the march had different alternator because it had AC etc but im sure if someone of your calibre can build a sr20 k11 they can figure this out!
 
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kristian

One Way Mule
yes, well its now running a march all alloy alternator..

Its sorted now anyway guys..

The simplest of things.. the coupling I used when splicing the cables didn't have a 'true' connection on one wire.. its one of those things you just assume is fine so you never check it till your clutching at straws for the solution!..


lol..

Sorted guys cheers!..
 

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
Thanks for the info guys..
Your car should run fine without your battery attached, the alternaotr should generate enough power to run the car.. try it.. it works


You should never EVER do this. The battery acts as a smoothing capacitor, and removes the spikes that the alternator will produce (and other things in the system) You do stand a pretty fair chance of ruining your ECU and any other sensitive electronic equipment connected to an alternator that does not have a battery to smooth its output.

Also the alternator provides all the power when a car is running. The battery will only be receiving charge under normal conditions. Its only there to start the engine in the first place and to smooth voltage fluctuations as I said.
 
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