98 S70 electrical issues Topic is solved

[shegarty]

Is the + cable within a few inches from the battery hot to the touch after driving?

Not the last time I checked it. This is precisely why it has already been replaced. I wasn't experiencing any negative effects before replacement about 2 years ago but it was preventative maintenance when I noticed that it was running hot and had a lot of internal resistance.

[misha]

Those connections should be crimped with a proper hydraulic tool.
They are crimped from the factory for a reason.

Soldered ends on these kind of connections can be compromised because of lots of heat & vibrations under the hood.

Could be that cable before the solder cracked and not able to conduct amps.

[scot850]

Was looking for an alternator for a P1 for a friend. Biggest consideration was the core charge and return costs. Rock Auto has it for about $285 CDN + $40 core + shipping. I would right off the core charge as it will cost more to ship than the core charge.

Interesting. I checked on Bosch Canada autoparts website. They listed a re-man unit as the AL0805X for a 98 S70. I believe that is wrong as that rotated the wrong way for a 98. It should be the AL0752X. ??

Neil.

[shegarty]

Those connections should be crimped with a proper hydraulic tool.
They are crimped from the factory for a reason.

Soldered ends on these kind of connections can be compromised because of lots of heat & vibrations under the hood.

Could be that cable before the solder cracked and not able to conduct amps.

It's possible that the soldered end is cracked but I highly doubt it. I used multi-stranded welding wire with very fine individual strands, I think it was 1/0 wire so I can't see the connection being that bad. Were having a bad storm here for the next couple of days so I won't know until the weekend when I can get a good look at it - unfortunately I don't have a garage to work in.

[shegarty]

Was looking for an alternator for a P1 for a friend. Biggest consideration was the core charge and return costs. Rock Auto has it for about $285 CDN + $40 core + shipping. I would right off the core charge as it will cost more to ship than the core charge.

Looks like its the spares bin for the win - found a spare from my old 94 850 that I think is parts matching. Looks like a Bosch reman unit with a Hugo regulator. Hoping for some better weather in the next couple of days so I can get a good look at what's going on but at least I have some parts to play with now.

[misha]

Just make sure that the replacement have the same power like old one.It should be 100A.

[shegarty]

Just make sure that the replacement have the same power like old one.It should be 100A.

Yep, it’s the high output 100A version. Hoping to be able to confirm part numbers later this evening if the pouring rain stops

[scot850]

Bosch has update the reman unit to output 120A from what I read. I can't guarantee that but it was off their website. If you are going with one from a few years ago it should be good at 100A.

I don't think we got the 80A units over here.

Neil.

[misha]

I guess that 80A units were installed on cars without AC,power windows...although i never saw an 850 without AC or power windows in personal...they existed for various markets.

[shegarty]

Here's the latest ... I had some time today to do some more investigation and here's what I found:

When I first went out it was sitting around 12.4V and started fine. Testing from the alternator B+ terminal to the housing and block I was getting a full 14V but from the B+ terminal to negative on the battery and chassis ground I was only getting 12.6-12.8V. On a short drive voltage was pretty steady at first around 12.6-12.8V (at the lighter socket) but then when I got back home and parked it was back up to 13.4-13.6V. Transmission shift light was still flashing on the drive but stopped once I shut it off and restarted it back home. The whole time I didn't have more than 150mV drop along the B+ cable between the alternator and the battery under high load and about 65mV under light load. Also only about 20mV drop from the battery to the main fuse box.

Here's my thinking, alternator seems to be functioning as it should and providing the necessary voltage - the problem is with a ground somewhere from the engine to the chassis which was aggravated by the very wet/windy weather we had for a couple of days. Where should I be looking to repair/replace one?