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Your Chevy’s alternator generates the electrical energy for all your car’s devices. It also maintains your battery at full charge. Generally speaking, your alternator will last for around eight years before it needs to be replaced. When an alternator is wearing out, it will show signs that it’s experiencing problems. These signs mean that it’s time to bring your car to your Chevy dealer for an alternator repair.
Electrical Problems
A good alternator can easily supply all of your car’s electrical needs and charge the battery without any problem. As the alternator gets older, parts of it start to wear out. A weak alternator won’t be able to supply all of your car’s electrical needs, and your car’s computer has to try and resolve this shortfall. The computer is programmed to prioritize certain systems, for example, the spark plugs, that will always receive power.
The remaining available power is supplied to the remaining components according to demand. The more components that need power at the same time, the greater the chance electrical problems will start. Your windows, for example, may refuse to close, or the CD player will suddenly stop working. These glitches are caused by the need to shift power between different devices. As your alternator becomes weaker, these problems will increase.
Burning Smells
Smells of hot metal and burning insulation wafting from the engine are signs of trouble. The worn alternator will try to produce more power to satisfy the demand, and this means the stator in the alternator must spin faster. The stator is a collection of magnets bound in copper wire that generates an electrical field as it spins. The stator won’t be able to supply the necessary power, but it will heat up producing the hot metal smell.
Buring insulation smells awful and is also dangerous and toxic. Damaged wiring in the alternator or that connects the alternator to the various electrical components can heat up and start to burn. The wires heat up as the alternator tries to push electricity through the damaged wires, and damaging wiring won’t conduct electricity and it burns instead.
A Damaged Battery
A damaged battery can damage a healthy alternator by overstraining it. The alternator will kick in when your engine starts, and begin charging your battery. The alternator will charge your battery at full power for about five minutes, and it with then switch to charging the battery at 10% of battery capacity. This is to prevent strain on the alternator and prevent overloading the battery.
If your battery is damaged, it will register that it’s at a lower charge than it is. This will cause the alternator to continue to charge the battery at full power. Since the battery level reading is wrong, the alternator will wear itself out trying to charge the battery.
A damaged alternator can easily be repaired or replaced. Call us right away at Glassock Chevrolet, and our expert technicians will fix it.
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