replaced the alternator today...

[txranger14]

Have an 89' carbed festiva. just replaced the alternator today, charged the battery up, started it up and drove it about a mile and half, turned on the headlights, and the car died. the battery is brand new and tests good, new alt, tight belts all around. cannot figure this out. was going to replace most ignition parts tomorrow but need to take care of this problem first. any input helps, thanks!

[gergorian]

I would say to check all of your fuses first.

[nitrofarm]

Have an 89' carbed festiva. just replaced the alternator today, charged the battery up, started it up and drove it about a mile and half, turned on the headlights, and the car died. the battery is brand new and tests good, new alt, tight belts all around. cannot figure this out. was going to replace most ignition parts tomorrow but need to take care of this problem first. any input helps, thanks!

Put the old Alternator back in,what happens?

[txranger14]

the old alternator didn't do anything. besides its gone now by the way of core charge turn in.

[Movin]

You have one heck of a huge drain to make a battery go dead in a mile and a half.
Is that what happened or is there more to this?

[txranger14]

nothing more. charged it after putting the alt on. adjusted the belts, started up fine, drove it, shifted up into third around a corner and it jumped like i mashed the gas, stuttered, then kept going, almost into my driveway, turned the blinker on, the light didn't come on, so i turned on my headlights, and then it died. pushed it into the driveway. went back out after charging it again (just a bit ago), started it, turned on the lights, ran it, turned on the cd player and it died. really getting old. the battery is charging up thru the charger but not holding the charge for very long, or the alt isn't charging it. but its less than 3 hrs old! the battery is from november and tests fine.

[gergorian]

Are you sure that the alternator is charging? I cant remember if the Festiva has it but on some cars it will have a fuse between the alternator and the battery to stop it from overcharging.

[txranger14]

idk how to test that. its new, belt is spinning it. all the wires in back are hooked up correctly.

[gergorian]

Hmmmm. Did you have the alternator tested when you bought it? I had one bad out of the box once and since then I always have it tested before I pay for it. Also, if your near an autozone or the likes, they should have an ammeter to measure the output of the alternator on the car. ( that is if you can get it to the parts store)

[txranger14]

they tested it and it was fine. no, i couldnt drive it for more than 3-4 minutes.

[gergorian]

Do you have a volt meter? If so, check the battery voltage with the car off and note it. Then check with the car running with nothing electrical on ( lights , radio etc....) Then as you are watching the voltage with the car running, have someone turn the lights, fan, and radio on and see if the voltage drops as you are watching it. Not running you should have about 12-13volts, car running with no electrical load about 13.5-14.5v. If you have 14v with the engine running and when the lights and fan are turned on, the voltage drops to about 12v then its a good bet is that the alternator is bad.

[FestYboy]

a charged battery will run a carby festy for well over an hour.

you stated that as soon as you turned on the lights, the car stalled...
this indicates to me that the idle compensator is out of adjustment OR not engaging.
the compensator screw is on the left side of the carb below the choke. it's a philips head screw with a spring on it just over an inch long. what's supposed to happen is when you turn on the lights or any other heavy load (like the A/C or Rad fan), that screw rotates onto the throttle shaft and adds throttle to keep the RPM from dropping. Idealy, the idle should stay dead even or rise 50 RPM (within that range). any more than that and the screw needs backed off, any less and you need to add screw.

[gergorian]

Ah, I totally missed that it was a carby... I'll go sit in the corner. :/

[txranger14]

well, what would change that idle part to not work. the car worked fine until the alternator went out. all that has changed on it is anything relating to that. nothing towards the idler. not doubting you at all, just curious as to how that could happen. before the alt went out, the car ran and did everything fine.

[gergorian]

Could it be possible that the alternator just wasn't loading down the engine to cause the issue before it went out?