Dodge Aries 1985 2.2 engine: Not putting out enough volts. Not fuses/battery/alt. What can it be?
Asked by duskyshadows Apr 04, 2009 at 03:38 PM about the 1985 Dodge Aries
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I've replaced the alternator 5 times and know that the alternator is a good one. the battery is good. the fuses/wires/fuse-able links are good. Computer code reads nothing wrong. But the car is running entirely off the battery despite having a good connection to the alternator, and this alternator is a *good* one. What is going on here?
5 Answers
CHECK YOUR GROUNDS!!! On an old car like that, the wire technology wasn't like today. I have a 92 Diamante, and replaced my motor -> body ground and my battery -> body grounds. The wires looked fine, but they were all oxidized and beat up from corrosion. I live in Wisconsin, so salt is a huge part of the winter. It may be just that. It is usually something simple.
duskyshadows answered 15 years ago
I used a continuity tester. All the grounds were tested... Do you think it still may be the problem?
couldn't hurt... try to run a jumper along with the normal grounds... if it works great!, if not you only wasted 10-15 mins
LAKOTAWOLF25 answered 6 years ago
Power module under the hood next to the battery. It tells the ECM to charge or not to. I had same problem with mine. Crazy ass car. Got basically two computers telling each other what to do. Thank God Dodge does not do that crap anymore. Nothing but a money trap. They run great for a long time once you get the bugs out but all those wires and crap that are totally unneeded in a normal car. I call mine my Devil car. Gets 32 MPH when its running good but what you save on gas your putting into parts. Good luck but really check the power mod. And James above me, that car the voltage regulator is part of the ECM That car is one that a person really has to know before trying to give advice about it. That one there put allot of mechanics out of business
