Hi
Picked up used 2013 RS and once I got it started and idling to reach its operating temps the car died. I tried cranking it again and sounded like battery was out of juice. So I rolled it in the garage and put it on battery tender. I was also told that these alternators wont make enough charge to charge the car while idling.
Now after getting the battery charged again, I fired up the car and switched the AIM to display Battery level. It started at 11.80v and as it was idling (no lights on) I saw it losing charge, and voltage kept going down. 11.70, 11.60, 11.10, 10.60 the longer it idled. I also tried to revving it past 3k/rpm after it reached Water and Oil temps as that someone said it wont charge at idle, but even then, the battery level kept going down.
I then hooked up a multimeter to the alternator and the readout was 0.00, not sure if I did it right and if ever this would show solid 0.00 without any oscillation (maybe my multimeter is busted?) and I'll try again today.
My questions are:
How often do alternators go bad on this car?
Do they in fact not produce enough charge to charge at idle?
Are there any other methods to check if alternator is bad?
Is the AIM Battery Voltage indicator good enough to show the correct level of the battery?
Is the alternator hard to get and replace, where can I order one?
Thanks a bunch,
New Radical Owner
The STATOR ( NOT ALTERNATOR ) sometime goes bad.. must of the time the voltage Regulator is the culprit .. I dont know were you check the out put , but there is a plug that goes from side of the stator case .. that plug gets hot and sometime burns up.. check that, what we do is keep it clean and use Dielectric grease ,, also the voltage reg.sometime goes bad .. but i would look closing at the plug that leads from the stator and see that the terminal are good. if it all checks out then you will need to replace the stator .. its not hard to do .. get a gem one , dont get the aftermarket one .. the crack trigger is also part of the stator so get the oem one .
If you need help call me and i walk you thru the process ..
Manny 305-333-4445
@msracing many thanks for getting back so quickly. Yeah, I wasn't testing the STATOR with the multimeter lol, sorry I'm a dummy. I've followed the cables coming out of the STATOR and got to the plug. The plug looks greased up and hasn't melted yet (which is what I seen in some of the cases). However, I'm having trouble locating the voltage regulator.
Also, I'll fire it up today and hook up the voltagemeter to a battery instead, but as to my previous questions, the AIM output for the battery voltage is to be trusted? I read somewhere that if voltage falls below 12v it would shut off, but in my case, it has gotten much lower than that.
If after my checking the correct STATOR output and battery, and if I can locate the voltage regulator, I still have issues, do you know of a good place where I can get Radical Parts as I have couple more parts that I need to get and replace, as well as possibly the STATOR. Thanks!
As Manny said but if you are checking the stator output on the 3 pin plug then you need to be doing this in AC on your multimeter. You should then check all three options over two pins if that makes sense.
Follow the wiring from the stator to the reg/rec. It will have lots of fins.
The fuse in the charging loom can often melt from heat and cause problems so check this. If you dont have the latest charging loom on the car I would recommend fitting one.
You need 12.5V plus to run the car correctly. It will run below but things like the fuel pressure will drop off.
Whoaaa. I followed the charging loom to what seems like there should have been a rectifier hooked up and I see nothing there. The adapter that has 5 prongs also seems to not be hooked up to anything. From this diagram for Reference 18: 
I see these there, but rectifier is missing.
Wow! I am impressed that someone would sell a car without this and without it charging!
Its an OEM Suzuki part, part number 32800-33E21.
@rlm-dan considering that it was sold by a reputable Race Shop and before me picking it up, was supposed to be ready, everything looked over and ready for the start of new season (oil, pads, gear fluids, tires etc.). Here are the pics I took of where the rectifier should be and what looks like a plug for it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/brEiXUpUPAYHqUjS6
Thanks a lot, I'll get this one on order, however, do you guys know of a good place where Radical parts can be ordered from?
@bbong718, what chassis number car do you have and what size engine does it have?
Regarding who to order parts from, Spring Mountain has the largest stock of parts, but I have also had great luck with Radical Texas and New York.
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com it's 00828 and it's a 1500.
NY sounds like a place closest to me, maybe I'll give them a call. Thank you!
@bbong718, that is amazing that they would have sold you a car without a rectifier. Did you get it from a Radical dealer? I would contact the shop that sold you the car and see if they will take care of you. Who did you get the car from?
Well, I got the OEM rectifier and hooked it up. Charged both batteries and fired up the beast, but to no avail. After idling for a few minutes, battery charge kept going down. Tried revving it a bit and still I didn't see the voltage on the battery go up. Started @ 11.91 and went down to 11.20 before I shut it off.
I checked the rectifier with my hand and it was pretty hot (I'm guessing it received a charge from a stator?). Also checked the fuse that's by the battery (20A) and it looked good.
Any other things I should look at or I'm missing something here? Thanks in advance!
Today I started testing:
Checked the continuity on all phases on the plug to the stator and all looked good.
Not sure if I should get continuity the other way around, but there was none.
Ran the car and checked AC output out of the stator on all phases and it was pumping out 24-25v at idle.
Then I took few photos, as one thing caught my interest, and what looked like a relay socket by the rectifier.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VqAoj7GS6DkH97336
Am I correct in thinking that there should be something?
Definitely looks like you are missing a relay.
Awesome. Much appreciate guys for responding.
I got the relay but the only one they had was a 12V 30A and the one in the picture is 70A, when I hooked it up it looked like it was charging for few minutes and then it stopped, possible the relay was too weak and died?
What I did is pack up the car and took it to where I bought it, they agreed to sort it out. Hope it wasn't my weak relay that I bought, because if it was, then I could have ordered a much stronger one.
