reversed polarity, alternator not charging *SOLVED*
 

i read the post with same issue, post had no resolution.

anyone know of the fix. everything works. cant find a fuse that relates to the alternator and battery. did blow the radio and amp fuse.

should be simple fix, where to look

Have you replaced the alternator or have it tested?

You undoubtedly blew the diodes in the alternator, they rectify the AC voltage into DC current for the vehicle's electrical system, plus they also provide voltage regulation.

Hooking up the battery backwards almost always takes out the diode pack in the alternator, necessitating the alternator's replacement or rebuilding.

agreed 843de -


Cannuck - Please clarify: "reversed polarity" of what? Battery? alternator? ? Never mind - I found your other posting on the other thread - it was the battery that was hooked up backwards.

Well, my advice is the same as to the op in the other thread - take it to a shop that is well versed in electric repairs. As in the other thread, it is way to complex to diagnose over the internet. You could have 1 problem, but then again you could have 10 items that need repairs. In attempting to resolve it here or by yourself you risk further damage/expense.

I'm not saying this to be mean or anything, but to really drive home the fact that it really needs to be addressed hands-on by a professional - ......if one cannot connect a battery correctly (pos to pos, and neg to neg), they really should not be attempting repairs like this either here on a forum, or by themselves. I'm sorry if it sounds harsh, but it really isn't meant to be.

I took a logical "leap" and guessed that the battery was hooked up backwards(due to the referenced thread being about a battery installed incorrectly), while possible to hook the alternator up backwards, it would be fairly obvious that things were wrong.

They don't give you much slack on the alternator wiring to get things crossed up.

I have no idea how one could possible plug the alternator in backwards. It is a polarized plug.

Of course, if we could get complete sentences........

Donbrew, Lucky, whopper and 843de have the right idea, you could spend way more with a trail by fire (pun intended) approach to resolve your issues with the electrical system. a good well known auto electric shop or dealership would be your best investment

battery hooked up wrong . something got toasted. will check alternator to see if its putting out. funny how the car can run off just the battery or just the alternator.

I did this when I was 16 waaaay back in 1976. Alterator was smoked. Luckily back then we did not have all of the computers and control modules we have now.

Hopefully it will just be the alternator and nothing more serious.

Good luck.

was hoping someone had same issue that would give input

Well unfortunately it's a rare occurrence, and there are no guarantees that reversing the polarity accidentally on an HHR will always damage "Components A, B, C, D, Etc".

And a car can run on only the alternator output, or only on battery voltage, but both need to function properly to charge the battery and provide consistent and stable voltage to the electrical system.

Things are called accidents for a reason, just keep us in the loop as repairs are made.

There is the main maxi-fuse (50 amp, I think) back by the battery next to the ground lug. You could be lucky and just blew it. But, I think you said you checked all the fuses.

checked the wiring and basically the battery and generator meet at the starter. there are 2 wires that run into the ecm off the generator. orange controlling the turn on signal; grey duty cycle signal. ecm controls other functions which do work.

checked generator and its giving off no voltage, 12volts at the distribution box comes from the battery

new generator comes monday. the other post had a new generator installed and still it didnt charge the system although not confirmed. not sure if the orange wire sends or receives. update monday when generator is put in

Check your PM, help may be available.

alternator is very expensive. $4-500. u need to move the wiper fluid res to remove the alt from the engine compartment. coming up from the bottom with a bar and bottle jack to release the belt tensioner.

voltage of the old alt was 0, off the new one is only around 6v. to me suggests a ground issue. looks like a trip to the stealership.

Are you checking the voltage at the big wire battery connection on the back of the alt? If so you should see battery voltage there with the car not running and then above battery voltage when it is running. If the alt. is working.

no voltage at the back of the alt when car is off. alt puts out 6volts when car is running.
the ecm has 2 wires one monitors duty cycle. the other turns on the alt load. guessing the ecm driver for the turn on alternator is not functioning.

what would cause the positive from the battery to alternator to have no reading. they meet at the starter

I'll say it one more time: "Well, my advice is the same as to the op in the other thread - take it to a shop that is well versed in electric repairs. As in the other thread, it is way to complex to diagnose over the internet. You could have 1 problem, but then again you could have 10 items that need repairs. In attempting to resolve it here or by yourself you risk further damage/expense.

I'm not saying this to be mean or anything, but to really drive home the fact that it really needs to be addressed hands-on by a professional - ......if one cannot connect a battery correctly (pos to pos, and neg to neg), they really should not be attempting repairs like this either here on a forum, or by themselves. I'm sorry if it sounds harsh, but it really isn't meant to be. "

maybe someone has had the same issue and had a resolution.the forum is about sharing info and experience. thats why i keep bumping so someone might see. i have no expectations.

i dont mean to be harsh but u offer neither. basically i need a scanner to progress. if time wasnt the issue the manual outlines trouble shooting which is what a tech will reference.

even my girlfriend can suggest to take it in to a shop.

my guess is ecm, bcm, battery current sensor. they all communicate with each other and the ecm tells the alternator to fire up. this post is to help the next guy looking for an answer. telling someone to take it to a shop is their decision and not the reason a forum exists

My experience with these issues indicate a OBD II scanner is required to pinpoint the issues with your HHR. Your guesses are precise, but not conclusive!

I'm out of this one. Some you try and help, but they just won't listen when it is way out of their capability, and they are in a position to seriously damage their vehicle further, or themselves.

if there is no voltage at the battery cable on the back of the alt. without the car running then the alt will not charge. you will need to trace that wire back to find the problem. there may be a fuse link wire built into that wire between the alt. and the starter.

I looked at the repair manual and don't see a fusible link listed between the starter and alternator(generator).
This splice is listed:
J111
On front of engine, from starter to generator,
approximately 15 cm from starter.

The repair diagram shows positve wire(red) from battery to starter to alternator. Doesn't show a fusible link.

I seen that in the diagram also. Just figured its wouldn't hurt to be looking for a fuse link that may not show in the wiring diagram when your tracing back the battery cable from the alt. to the starter.

"I don't mean to be harsh", but..... a shop would have been able to tell + from - in the first place.:lol::dancingcarrot: And responsible for fixing it if they couldn't.

Sorry, I had to point that out. Don't get all offended. I am not trying to be mean.

Forms also don't exist to tell you to guess at possible solutions and throw expensive electrical parts at the problem until you solve it. You're guesing as are others who have offered a solution and there is no resolution to your problem in this thread or the other one that is now closed. Taking it to a shop isn't always a 'bad' thing. They have the proper equipment to diagnose these vehicles. I'm a licensed MVAC tech and worked as a general mechanic for years (in my younger days...). There are many repairs I would do myself at home. This isn't one of them.

resolved. the last 2 suggestions were correct. i did not see a fuseable link. did notice J111 but they call it a splice. the harness near the starter has a fuseable link which is not shown in the manual which the dealership found and replaced.

i had checked voltage at the alternator=0 at orange wire starter=0 at red wire coming off the distribution panel to starter and got 12v , both tests done car running and off.

the wire going to the starter got fried and would not allow battery current to complete the circuit. i actually found this wire and saw it was beat up , but it did not stand out as a cause. the tech had to open up the harness to track down the offending wire.
thanks to all those that offered constructive help. in future posts if ur advice is to go to the shop, save it. there is no cost to reading and learning. going to a shop is always my last option. i dont mind looking into things and see if i can get satisfaction with a self fix. i could have done the repair myself if i was willing to rip open the harness but chose to call it a day after trouble shooting for a few hours, instead of watching TV.

Attachment 23693
Attachment 23694
does this look like it would cause my headache. tech said this wire is designed to give out if things get too hot.

with the help of the manual and some guidance from the posts i replaced the alternator a few years early and spent nothing else other than hitting the dealer when i ran out of options. now i can make it to xmas dinner.

on a side note, the HHR will run on battery alone. with a good battery and radio off i was getting 30-40 mins of driving before the car quits once voltage drops below 10volts. every time i got stuck in traffic i would get freaked out knowing time was ticking and would be counting down the minutes, what a way to live for a few days.

And if you had taken it to the shop as suggested at the start (which you had to do in the end), you would have saved the price of the new alternator (not "generator" by the way), and the freakout time running on battery alone.

But I'm glad it is back on the road again. :thumb:

Glad to hear you're up and running again.:thumb:

Well GM calling a fuseable link a "splice" isn't a surprise, there have always been two ways to do things, the normal way and the "General's" way.

Please don't take advice to go to a mechanic as mean spirited, or as criticism, but there are times when you have to call on the experience of people who work on these critters day in and day out.

Now we've only had automobiles since 1886, so you would think that somewhere along the line a lightbulb would have gone off in an engineer's mind...."hey, let's make the positive and negative battery terminals impossible to hook up backwards". But its only been 127 years, so maybe someday.:wink:

Have a Merry Christmas cannuck!

That is a very interesting discovery.

To my knowledge, you are about the 6th person, with a recent GM product, that has discovered that problem.....although none admitted to have a reverse polarity issue.

HHR's = 2
GMC =1
Chev trk =2
Corvette =2

I'll need to keep this in my "mind" bank when someone encounters a problem similar to yours.

What is also interesting, all of these people (except this forum member) had the vehicle to a dealer who couldn't find the problem after replacing several parts. ALL the owners found the actual problem.

My hat is tipped to you, cannuck.

i understand. thx

the alternator or generator as its referred to in the manual was toast, had it checked.

i searched for hours in cobalt and other gm forums and found no one else with similar issue. im starting a stereo install thread and will show why i messed up. its in a tight space because of the subwoofer and was rushing at night.

Glad to see the slice has been confirmed as the root cause of the issue replaced and your back on the road! Maybe see you next summer at the Nationals when ever Pyropanel sets up a date.

[QUOTE= Maybe see you next summer at the Nationals when ever Pyropanel sets up a date.[/QUOTE]

was there the first year. will go this summer for sure

I'm glad to here your up and running. :twothumbs:I was fairly sure that there was a fuse link there somewhere but I could not prove it. I did a lot of searching on the net for this post for other wiring diagrams.
I have found that automotive wiring diagrams are not always 100%. Changes get made in production and sometimes don't make it to the diagrams as they should.

Thanks cannuck, I just added this information about J111 to my FSM for future reference.

By the way the FSM calls it a "Generator" as well in the wiring sections.

For the record, GM calls it a "generator". I guess alternator is a subset of generators technically speaking anyway. It "generates" an Alternating Current.

My son did the same thing reversed polarity
 

This info wil be very helpful as my son just didnthis to his HHR. ALSO you can move the tensioner with a Craftsman 3/8 drive ratchet if its the low profile head. Its tight but it will pop in the square once in move it to about 8 o clock position and pull it slightly to slip the belt around crank pulley then using a friend pull the ratchet handle to 630 and have the person at the top pop the belt on the alternator