Alt Pulley Squeal Gone W/ New Battery

retmil46 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 12:10 pm

Back in early December when the red '87 MB got t-boned, and I started driving the CRD full time again, I noticed that I was getting the dreaded alt pulley squeal for a minute or two upon cold startup - especially noticeable on very cold days.

At the same time, I started using the cig lighter plug-in voltmeter that had been in the MB in the CRD. I noticed that the voltage was dropping far too low for a healthy Optima within minutes of shutting off the vehicle, and it took several miles of driving for the alternator to be able to pump system voltage up to it's normal 14.4 after startup. And the starter was cranking over the engine noticeably slower on startup.

After pulling the Optima out and putting it on the charger, what I suspected was confirmed - one of the cells was internally shorted, and after a few minutes the charger would shut off and throw a trouble code.

I replaced the Optima with a Titanium Group 34/87 battery from Advance. With a healthy battery, the engine cranked on the QT and system voltage was up to 14.4 within seconds of startup.

One other thing - with a healthy battery, the alt pulley squeal disappeared and hasn't reoccurred since, even on days when the temps were down in the teens and single digits.

My theory is that with an internally shorted battery, the voltage regulator was slamming the alternator into max load as soon as the engine was running, trying to pump up the battery and system voltage to where it should be, effectively slam-dunking that alt pulley for all it was worth.

With a healthy battery that immediately comes up to voltage, the alternator and pulley are only seeing normal starting loads now.

If you're starting to get the alt pulley squeal on startup, check your battery first. If it's bad, a healthy battery might be the cure instead of a new alt pulley treating the symptoms. At the least, a bad battery placing an outsized load on the alternator would seem to contribute to early pulley failure.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Mon Feb 09, 2009 2:24 pm

Michael.

Is your charger a "Power on board" smart charger? If so was the error a F03?

I rercieved that on mine this morning.

thanks
Joe

retmil46 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:17 pm

Joe Romas wrote:

Michael.

Is your charger a "Power on board" smart charger? If so was the error a F03?

I rercieved that on mine this morning.

thanks
Joe

Mine is a Black and Decker made by Vector Mfg, but sounds the same - threw the same code F03, bad/internally shorted battery.

A healthy Optima when fully charged ought to be reading from 12.8 to 13 volts when not connected to anything. Even after using a manual charger to verify the results, mine would drop down to 12.4 volts or lower within minutes of taking it off the charger.

Even a healthy conventional battery should be reading 12.6 to 12.8 volts some time after being removed from the charger. The Group 34/87 still reads in that range even after the CRD has been sitting overnight with the vehicle's electronics putting a small drain on it.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:03 pm

Michael.

Thanks.
I've seen the B&D unit and it's almost identical to mine. The model number of mine is VEC1095APOB and I would bet the VEC stands for Vector :lol:

My 06 is still under bumper to bumper till the end of May so I'll need to get a "plan of action" to get another optima.
Do you know if the recondition mode in our chargers will work on a AGM battery? I may have to try it but it takes 24 hours to complete :roll:

retmil46 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:35 pm

I'm thinking the recondition mode is primarily if the battery has been sitting/undercharged and is sulfated. I doubt that it would work on a battery that has an internal (ie, physical) fault.

If they want to play games on the warranty, the Titanium Group 34/87 from Advance is a much cheaper option, 60 to 80 bucks from what I remember. I've always had good results and service life out of their batteries.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:23 pm

I'm asking because for F03 error they give 2 cause/solutions.

"Internal open cell" replace battery.
"Sulphated Condition" Battery needs to be reconditioned or replaced, see manual.

The nature of my driving, lots of short trips, might lead to sulfating :cry:

I just ran a twenty minute each way arrend and the voltage reads 12.5 so for giggles I've disconnected the battery cables (both) and am running the recondition function to see what happens :lol:

Alt Pulley Squeal Gone W/ New Battery

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