[humyum]

Guys..i must say..the problems with my car..never end..tired of it ...somethin or the other keeps commin up.. the alternator is the problem now..my car run 62000 km ...carbureted 1998 model maruti 800..after the fire thing was over..nd the car was being serviced as well..the service station guy told me the alternator was supplyin less current than it was supposed to supply....it was supplyin 13.07 volts without him cleaning or anythin with no load..nd with load it was 12.69....he said that old maruti 800 carburated model had problems of supplying less current..the problem is solved with the mpfi 800.. he said he ll clean the terminals of the alternator..took his word..nd when went to take delivery of the car...he said alternator is fine nd he had cleaned the terminals..took his word for it ...
Then some days back..searched the net for the alternator voltage output nd to my ..the output shown everywhere was around 14.5 with no load..nd 13.8 with load..had also pm'ed mridul..one of the new users on t-bhp..as had read his post regarding the alternator output nd stuff..got his reply..sayin the alternator is supplyin less current nd the maruti guys were not right in what they said ...he gave me his friends number who works in amron...he also confirmed the voltage is low..
Went to a battery fellow..nd asked him to check the voltage..nd the voltage shown there was 13.8 with no load..nd with all the load of headlight,ac/blower..the voltage was 12.8..
Just to confirm the reading went to another battery fellow nd again to my the reading shown by his meter was 13 .4 with no load..nd with load of headlight/ac/blower..it dropped to an alarming 11.90..
Dint know which one to belive..so took a normal electricians meter which my friend had..nd checked the output..it showed 13.7 at no load..which drastically dropped to 12 volts with all the load..
Now i am very confused..which reading to believe..all this was checked by connecting the possitive nd negative terminal of the meters to the battery..nd all the reading were at idle rpm..
Guys please suggest what should i do...nd one more thing..i have never got any starting..headlight dimming or any kind of problems with the car ever..i have an excide..battery in my car..

[wolfinstein]

Humyum Bhai...! Don;t get so worried...! Its normal for an alteranator to have certain operating range..If the difference is not great that means its doing just fine...!

All electronic meters have different resistance capcit...so their will be a difference in readings in most of them...Since however I will suggest you to trust your Maruti Dealer's equipment.

There appears to be no problem with your electricals now, No surges, No fuse blown, No dimming...So No Worry...! Its all fine..!

The Only advisable thing you can do, to get the though out of your head is, to get the alternator cleaned, with time, there is lot of dust and carbon which deposits inside the motor windings causing low performance and low current- You can get this cleaned at any good Maruti Workshop or a good electrical motor works..somewhat like those which repair and do motor re-windings for Water Pumps...!

Changing a battery is a only a temporary solution, if the alternator is really producing low current then the battery will not sustain the charge for long...So don't worry Your Exide is the most dependable battery you can find...!

regards

[RoaringEngine]

Even I have a 1998 model, I guess they do have this alternator problem for this model. I am very much cautious when driving on load. I either switch off my AC or my music system in the night coz I can't switch off the headlamps :-). Even I got my car checked at the maruti service center and they say its all normal but on rainy days in the night I can feel the power supplied is less when engine is on full load.
I think I will ask the service guy if we can upgrade the alternator.
Hey HumYum, did you get your alternator cleaned like Wolfinstien said? let me know if u got it done. I will also ask them to clean it in my next service and see if the performance increases.
*thanks*

[humyum]

hey dude..got the alternator opened..serviced..nd replaced parts like cutout,carbon brush nd one more thing sorry forgot what it was..all this set me back by 1100 bucks(all original tvs lucas original parts)....nd plus 200 bucks for mechanics labour..nd voila..checked the output..it was showin 14.42 at no load..nd at full load of headlight ac/blower ..it was still showin 13.7..got 90/100 headlight bulbs ..so must be sucking more power...roaring engine i think go to ur trusted mechanic..nd have him open the alternator nd replace the necessary parts..the alternator will be back as new...about the higher capacity alternator...that will cost a bomb dude..

[wolfinstein]

HumYum..! So I hope it was well spent 1300 rupees..or maybe just the old saying " a stich in time saves nine "..! Were the replaced parts worn out or dirty or what, could you post pictures of the parts, I would really love to see what makes an alternator besides the magnet and copper windings..!

BTW the Engine does not take any power from the Alternator..! The engine on the contary develops power to run the alternator using its Belt...! It does'nt sound like that there is any problem with the alternator giving you the right amount of power, An alternator will give different readings at different load levels.

And Yes for the costing..! The Alternator is infact a very costly OE to replace- Labour cost is meagre considering the part cost, Last what I knew the Alternator for my ex-uno was around 18000/- and currently for a lancer its around 20-25000/-..! OEM companies are TVS-Lucas,Denso..Any more..?? TVS Lucas is the OEM I have seen mostly...!
regards

[humyum]

Originally Posted by humyum

hey dude..got the alternator opened..serviced..nd replaced parts like cutout,carbon brush nd one more thing sorry forgot what it was..all this set me back by 1100 bucks(all original tvs lucas original parts)....nd plus 200 bucks for mechanics labour..nd voila..checked the output..it was showin 14.42 at no load..nd at full load of headlight ac/blower ..it was still showin 13.7..got 90/100 headlight bulbs ..so must be sucking more power...roaring engine i think go to ur trusted mechanic..nd have him open the alternator nd replace the necessary parts..the alternator will be back as new...about the higher capacity alternator...that will cost a bomb dude..

wolfinstein dude..i meant roaring engine the user..roaring engine....i ll post u some pictures of the worn out parts soon..yeah man it was a well spent 1300 bucks..the parts were worn out...he said.. nd the mechanic said they need servicing every 25000 km(the alternator)..as per his sayin..dont know how true it is ...my alternator was never opened until today..i ll post the pics of the parts soon..The new alternator of maruti 800 costs 2500..

[pramodkumar]

Hey humyum Bro
Get a pooja done on your car its really unfortunate that these things are happening to you. If i am correct the last 2-3 months were not that lucky for your car get a pooja done.

[humyum]

Pramod..already got the pooja done..had gone to shrirdi..with my family..nd that time got it done..hopefully all the problems are sorted out now..(touchwood)..

[anjan_c2007]

My 1987 Maruti 800 engine work was done a year back. Its running fine but sometimes misses one cylinder.It always starts with a single self.
The other peculiar problem is that it stalls after driving above 10 kms maybe at any busy street and so on. When I dismantle the air filter and run the car without the filter fitted it starts immediately and runs fine.The carburettor barrel directly draws air from outside. How much can anyone run without the air filter fitted?Its not advisable.
I believe there is something wrong with the fuel pump and non supply of fuel stalls the car.

[vdiatech]

Hi, I am glad that the altrenator worries are over for you. With a few important components/parts replaced, you will have trouble free motoring.

Ot: Just noticed Leicester ! I used to drive down all the way from wolverhampton just to have a meal at 'Halli' in Leicester city centre, ever been there ?

[PAVAN KADAM]

OMG,

Why did you spend soooo much money.

A brand new Lucas Alternator costs around 2650/- to 3500/-( used in tractors)

A few more rupees would have fetched you a brand new one.

I had a similar problem with my M-800, just plonked in a new alternator. Got all the electricals checked thoroughtly. Total cost at around Rs. 3850/- End of all electrical issues.

[Eddy]

Guys, focus on Anjan's problem (post #9). Humyum got the thing fixed in 2006

[SirAlec]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

My 1987 Maruti 800 engine work was done a year back. Its running fine but sometimes misses one cylinder.It always starts with a single self.
The other peculiar problem is that it stalls after driving above 10 kms maybe at any busy street and so on. When I dismantle the air filter and run the car without the filter fitted it starts immediately and runs fine.The carburettor barrel directly draws air from outside. How much can anyone run without the air filter fitted?Its not advisable.
I believe there is something wrong with the fuel pump and non supply of fuel stalls the car.

Its not advisable to run without air filter on a regular basis. Its fine for a drag race etc.

SInce its running fine without filter, i want to know when was the last time Carb was dissembled and serviced.

BTW just check the timing (with the strobe thingy), rpm and dwell.

ALso do check if your CB point is in fine shape.

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

Its not advisable to run without air filter on a regular basis. Its fine for a drag race etc.

SInce its running fine without filter, i want to know when was the last time Carb was dissembled and serviced.

BTW just check the timing (with the strobe thingy), rpm and dwell.

ALso do check if your CB point is in fine shape.

Thanks Sir Alec for your input. The carburettor was disassembled last during the overhaul job and cleaned in March 09.Yes, I will get the timing checked with the strobe and CB point too and then say more about it.

Originally Posted by Eddy

Guys, focus on Anjan's problem (post #9). Humyum got the thing fixed in 2006

Thanks Eddy