Daves03

well driving my camaro apx. 20 miles and my check engine light comes on, i pull over and dig out the old paperclip and check my codes, bam code 53, i do a little research and find out that the code is for the overcharging of the battery and computer ecm, checked the voltage, 16.16 volts, now being a diesel technician i know this is very bad! ive always been taught 13.8 to 14.4 volts is good, so i figure what the heck the battery is almost new and is not going to generate such a high voltage but the alternator might if the voltage regulator is crap, so off comes the alternator and im off to advance, i got a reman. alternator, installed it on the car and drove it, runs great, drive to charlotte on monday and blip theres my light again, drive it on into work and check my codes, code 53, by now im thinking WTF?, now im pissed, drive it home after work and the light comes on again apx. 20 minutes later, pull over right away and test the voltage at the cigarette lighter, voltage is 18.6 volts, holly crap, drive it on in, checked voltage here in the drive way the voltage is 13.7 at the cigarette lighter, 14.57 at the alternator and 14.30 at the battery, is my alternator the problem did i just get stuck with another bad electrical piece from advance auto parts. Please someone give me some help because if i did im probably gonna take the alternator off and throw it through the window at advance on my way to autozone or napa.

also at these voltages my alternator is still whining pretty good untill the voltage regulator is unplugged.

tylersb350

they may have given you the wrong alternator...the one that requires an external voltage regulator, that happened to me. ive gotten my fair share of crap reman parts from adv or auto zone. oh and one more thing to check could be your flux capasitor, its located under the left rear seatfore towards the back of the car. hahaha

Daves03

no it has the internal voltage regulator but im still thinking its the stupid pos alternator due to the fact that i have gotten way too many bad parts from advance auto.

tylersb350

yeah i dont think ive ever gotten just one reman part. i always had to go back and get 2-3 more because the other ones just suck and the have absolutely zero quality control.

Daves03

so i think the rulling is in favor of firing the pos alternator and making them defect it, they suck hard, my fathers truck a 1993 chevrolet 1500 the turn signals stopped working and he took it to advance, the guy pulled a signal flasher right out of the plastic and put it in for him, the flashers still would not work, finally after many hours of working on the truck he took it to the shop and they installed a new signal flasher from napa, the signals worked just fine after that, then i bought the new vss for my camaro and it never worked, finally after many wasted hours of checking and repairing wires i went out on a limb and replaced my BRAND NEW vss from advance with another one and the gauge reads just fine now.

so dont expect the new parts to be good either.

i like advance auto parts people so dont get me wrong because i used to work there, but there electical is no count, just like tyler said they have 0 quality control on there parts.

tylersb350

ive only had problems with napa once. i had to replace an external voltage reg for my buddy in his 70 chvelle ss. i put it in and it started buzzing really bad so i took it back and exchanged it for another, and it worked fine......still works to this day.

Trickster

Dave03, Have you taken your car to advance auto or to a good mechanic and had them test your alternator and battery while it was in the car? Also I had a alternator go out on me one time and it spiked the battery so that it was reading 19.4 volts so in addition to a new alternator I had to get a new battery. Also you list your car as being a 305 v8 TBI, a code "53" for that car is the "Vehicle Anti Theft System" or VATS circuit. If you have a 305 v8 Tuned Port Injection (TPI) engine, then yes, the code 53 would be for an overcharging problem>

Daves03

i looked in the haynes manual for the code 53 which reads as follows code 53(fuel injected models) System over voltage, Charging system problem, which i tested my battery tonight with our big expensive battery tester and it said to replace the battery, the battery is a 600 cca which tested at 394 cca at 47 degrees, the foreman said that if the battery has a bad cell or is not taking a charge the wiring from the battery however it reads to the voltage regulator will keep it kicked in trying to charge the battery(which will not hold voltage) untill the battery explodes or it burns up the new alternator, he said to put a new battery in it and it should be fine.

yeah low

I must say that I agree. I once held certification for MECP (Mobile electronics certification program) if that could serve as reference... I have definitely heard many tales regarding bad cell issues, and WIDE OPEN regulator was on several occasions a symptom. I would recommend trying a KNOWN GOOD battery, before buying a new one, if you havent already done so.

If you have, please post up your outcome, inquiring minds would like to know! ;-)

Scott AKA YL

Daves03

yeah but still yet a known good one our tester shows the battery is bad so im gonna have to break down and buy one anyways especially with winter beaten around the corner i dont want to be stranded.

Daves03

got a new battery today and installed it gonna drive it to work here in a bit and see what happens, i went a little more expensive on the battery they had one rated at 525cca(junk)one rated at 600cca which was the one i got cause i had the same size in it before and never had a problem, then one rated i think it was 690 cca but its a little too expensive.

Daves03

well now for the results of the new battery, test failed code still thrown for overcharging code 53, i guess im going to check the wiring in the morning and see what i can come up with around the junction block.

nimrod_sixty9

Id love to see this. Good luck on your fix though.

Daves03

well i disconnected the battery and started cleaning and repairing the wiring, i figured the only thing thats left is the wires from the battery to the starter from the starter to the alternator, installed a new battery cable down to the starter and made a new wire to run from the starter up to the alternator voltage regulator and installed a new connector onto the voltage regulator just in case it was bad, had to battery disconnected all day long and drove it to charlotte and back out to eat and down the road, the check engine light never came on but when i stopped and got something to eat i checked the computer with a paperclip and counting the flashes, im getting a code 12 and then 53 for the overvoltage, i know the 12 is normal that means the system is working but ive always been told that if the check engine light doesnt come on and stay on then the code is not active is this true and my overcharging problem is solved or does that code showing up still mean i still have a problem. while driving the light is off the whole time but still performs a bulb check.

yeah low

I believe it might be a 'stored' trouble code. Did you clear the system of trouble codes?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the ECM store trouble codes until cleared? Just wanting to help out...

Scott AKA YL

Daves03

code 53
Replaced alternator-Didnt fix the code
Replaced battery-Didnt fix the code
installed new battery cables and rewired the whole charging system-didnt fix the code,

i believe ill pop the da** bulb out of the check engine light when the computer catches fire ill light me a cigarette throw it out the window and coast it into autozone so i can get me a carburetor and a regular intake manifold.

DONT NO WHAT ELSE TO DO BUT LET THE ECM BURN, ive changed everything on the charging system.

TheScaryOne

iTrader: (3)

Get another alternator. Remans are hit and miss. Which brand reman did you get?

Oh, and a lot of reman companies only replace what's broken in core units. If the regulator went out, they replace it, and bolt it back together. If it was a diode, just replace the diode array. I always buy the new stuff. Generally better warranty too.

Daves03

i think it was a duralast, i know it was from autozone i had the box setting here yesterday.

Toehead

Dave,

Did you read the voltage to both wires on the plug that goes into the alternator?


Let us know what they are.

Daves03

i know one shows its for fan fuse under dash the brown or black one i didnt bother it but ill check it and let you know.

Daves03

heres glich for all of you that have been trying to help me figure this one out, i drove the car to work today which is 65 miles round trip

to work 60+ degree condition the light pops on about 30 miles into the trip for the overcharging code

from work 34 degrees the light never came on once the complete trip home so im guessing the cold has something to do with it, im thinking something(maybe the alternator) is getting hot and overcharging but in the freezing cold temperatures it cannot get hot enough the kick the voltage into overdrive.

yeah low

Hey man, I know that you're probably tired of checking things that may or may not be the cause. I wanted to suggest checking and cleaning the ground quadrangle on your car. (block, chassis, battery, body) If any one of these is not clean ie rust, etc, it may be the culprit. I can't remember if anyone had suggested this or not. Did you check the voltage coming OUT of the ignition switch for alternator reference? If its low ie bad ign. switch that can cause the alternator to go into overdrive as well. Also, check at the battery for some sort of faulty connection, like a weak fusible link or something of that nature...

I am behind ya bud, dont let this get ya down.

/YL

Daves03

the power comming from the fan fuse by the haynes manual to the voltage regulator is 12.18 volts, the problem is that it does fine almost all the way to work and then does this to me on the highway.

yeah low

Studying man. I promise I am. I would love to help you fix this problem. Bear in mind that its a mite difficult to do via internet.

One thing you might try is to see if you can trigger this to happen in your driveway. In otherwords, see what is causing it, like holding approx 1900 RPM for 10 minutes. You might need an electric box fan of some sort to prevent overheating.

/YL

Daves03

yeah the problem always has to occur while the vehicle is in motion. Whats up with that?

crytical point

I know this may or may not be relevant but I was getting a similar code on my old 86 fiero and I ended up swapping a temp sensor and it went away. But on another note in the same car I did a SI to CS swap and my voltage sat at 14.4 and spiked to 17 even after start or heavy load and I just left it like that, after 2 years the battery is still good and the alternator is still operating like that with no problems and after clearing code it never came back.

thirdgenfcarnut

I feel your pain. Mine was undercharging. Went to Advance Auto, got a reman, installed it in the parking lot, did the same thing. Asked them to bench test my old one, it was no good. Had them test theirs in my car, started overcharging right b4 our eyes. It was the only one they had in stock. Took it out, drove home with my original alternator in the car. Thank God for my Stinger Deep Cycle battery... Took the wife's car to Pep Boys got one there, no problems since

Daves03

i would buy a new one but autozone ive looked and they dont seem to have a new one only remanufactured, advance they have new ones but all of theirs is clocked wrong new and reman. whatever it is im going to have to figure out a way to make it do it in the driveway, jack the back of the car up on blocks drop it in gear and giver er heck untill the light comes on im guessing, it messes up about 7/8 ths of the way to work, or im going to have to take off early one day get to work and check it out before punching in.

thirdgenfcarnut

If they are all clocked wrong you should be able to remove the three throughbolts and simply turn the two halves of the case until the unit is clocked right, then put the three throughbolts back in. When I got my current thirdgen, the alternator in there was clocked wrong. Someone cut the plug and connected an extension on there so it would reach, and left out the rear bolt!!! One day it was not charging and after checking everything I found the crappy twist-and-tape- connections had come loose. I reclocked the case and used good crimp connectors to attach the plug and replace the missing bolt.

Daves03

i would turn the alternator but the field windings on the inside are bolted into the front case the back case is dropped into place and then crimped + soildered, so theres no real way to turn it without busting something on the insides.

also im starting to lean more towards the ignition switch, i tested the voltage on the fan fuse today and then on the voltage regulator wire and i found the fuse voltage above 13 volts and the voltage reg at 12.66. so im going to start probing and digging in that area for a little bit and see what i can come up with.