[bryanjw82]

i took the car to autozone and my altenator was running at like 17amps, he said is shoudl be running around 40amps? is this right? I just took it in because i thought it was taking a little more effort to start up, and its not the battery.

 

[penguin]

I don't know what the Focus spec is for alternator output, but 17 amps would only be about 200 watts, and my motorcycle alternator is rated at 480 watts. And your headlights alone on low beam take about 10 amps.

So it sounds really low and it would certainly explain a slow crank speed and undercharged battery.

 

[UnderEstimated]

It should be around 40amps. At 17 amps, you might not notice too much difference while driving during the day, but at night when you turn on your lights you'll notice a big difference and your car might want to stall.

 

[bryanjw82]

well thats crappy news. I guess ill be ripping that pos out tomorrow and fitting a new one in. Such a pain in the [email protected]@.