[Healeys] Alternator Is “Humming”

R. Lindsay 050.rpl at gmail.com
Fri Jul 5 15:06:14 MDT 2019


I have been trying to find the source of a parasitic draw of power from my battery for the past several weeks.  FWIW, I have lost 0.75 volts on the charge over the last 4 days.  This seems like a lot.

When I remove the cable from the negative terminal of the battery (its a negative ground car) connect one end of my ammeter onto the negative terminal on the battery and the other end to the cable removed from the battery, the ammeter (set to read current of less than 10A) does not register a draw.  However, when I use a 12 volt light and connect it to the same points`, the light goes on ever so slightly.  

Today I noticed a very faint humming from the alternator and it was a little warmer to the touch than the other parts of the engine. When I disconnect the alternator from the solenoid, the humming went away and when I tested it with the light the light did not light up - no draw.  I can’t see anywhere else the draw could be coming from.  I’ve pulled all the fuses one by one to see if there is power being drawn from each circuit - with the alternator hooked up, there is no draw registered.  

This is the second new alternator I’ve had on the car in the last 60 days.  I had the issue before I exchanged the old alternator and the problem continued when I installed it.  Could it be another bad alternator??  Are alternators exceptionally sensitive or just not made very well these days?

Thank you for any light that can be shed on this.

Price Lindsay
67 BJ8
 
Sent from my iPad


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