01 low voltage- charge system failure
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 41
Likes: 2
From: California
01 low voltage- charge system failure
Hey so my car didn't start a while back. It's a 2001 corvette with a new battery and starter so I figured it was alternator. Replaced the alternator and it gave me the charge system failure. 3 weeks have gone by and now it throws the charge system failure every morning, the car will go into low voltage while driving and shutter. I'm talking tppootu as in break two spark plugs and see how the car runs. This happens in 6th gear, drop it into 5th and the voltage goes back up. However, tonight the car actually stalled and had a hard time starting back up. I've read that it could be bad battery cables or igniting switch. I used to be able to turn the car off and restart it and it would work fine. Help!
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 41
Likes: 2
From: California
Hope you can get your old alternator back......
The alternator that you installed is NOT the correct one for a C5 Corvette.
Lots of threads on the Forum about this exact problem. Just cause the alternator fits in place does NOT mean that it is the correct one.
Do a Google on "Charge System Fault" and you will find a ton of reading. If you can get the old alternator back you should find a place that will rebuild that one. Finding an off the shelf rebuilt that will work properly in your car is not an easy task.
The alternator that you installed is NOT the correct one for a C5 Corvette.
Lots of threads on the Forum about this exact problem. Just cause the alternator fits in place does NOT mean that it is the correct one.
Do a Google on "Charge System Fault" and you will find a ton of reading. If you can get the old alternator back you should find a place that will rebuild that one. Finding an off the shelf rebuilt that will work properly in your car is not an easy task.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 739
From: Miami FL
and IMHO you should consider having the alternator tested to know for sure its "state of health".Take a look at this post. It has info on the right regulators for both, 97-01 and 02-04. The price is around $30.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
Sounds to me like you have a connection issue. Clean the battery connections, the main ground wire where it attaches to the block and the wire lugs on the large starter solenoid. This would cause the poor starting and charging issues.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 41
Likes: 2
From: California
Alright so I got a new alternator and made sure it was the 110 amp specific one. I also cleaned the battery connections and grounds and made sure they were tight. It seemed to fix it last night, my voltage gage stayed exactly at 13 and didn't move. This morning it dropped between 11 and 11.5 volts 20 minutes into driving it. The car did its shuttering in 6th gear at the bottom end of 11 volts. I hit some traffic and turned the car off and back on. The shuttering stopped and the volts stayed at 12 the rest of the drive.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
You still have problems.
Easiest is to connect a voltmeter with one lead on the alternator stud and the other lead on the positive battery terminal. You should read very little voltage. If you see over 0.5V then I would definitely be checking for a bad connection.
Easiest is to connect a voltmeter with one lead on the alternator stud and the other lead on the positive battery terminal. You should read very little voltage. If you see over 0.5V then I would definitely be checking for a bad connection.
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Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 41
Likes: 2
From: California
Alright, after a long and tedious weekend I pulled the headers. I've been planning on selling the car so it needed to be done. After getting the header off on the passenger side, I noticed the starter nut ad well as the ground bolt to the block were both loose. After tightening them the car runs fine. Apparently the battery runs through the starter to the alternator, hence the domino effect. Thanks for all the help though.