This morning my wife's 2007 Kia Sorento LX wouldn't start. Checked battery voltage and it was 9.9v, I jumped it, and got it running. Was going to follow her into town on the way to work to swap out the battery. Almost as soon as she left the driveway she pulled off onto the shoulder. "it lurched and the dash lite up" according to her. I got behind the wheel and that's exactly what happened. Loss of power and the check engine, ABS, Brake, ESC off & ESC light come on. They go off almost immediately and power picks back up. Happens a few more times as I limp it back home. Check the voltage with it running and it's only about 12.5. It's the Alternator I think, so the closest one in stock is a reman'd one. Pick it up and tackle replacing it after work. That 2 prong plug on the back is a bear to disconnect. Get everything back together and jump it again to get it running. Check voltage and it's 14.5. Hook up my ODBII reader and load Torque on my phone. Watching the voltage in Torque I go for a test drive and it's doing the exact same thing as before. Loss of power and all the same lights. When that happens the voltage is dropping to 9 volts. I'm done for the day so I'm looking for advice. I plan on checking for loose grounds tomorrow and getting the battery checked at the local parts store. I may have them check the removed alternator while I'm at it. Did I get a bad reman'd alternator, or is it something much worse?
Replaced alternator, have same problem as before
- Thread starter chadkiser
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Sounds to me like you threw a part at a situation and that's not the problem.
Battery would be my first stop, then all connections.
Battery would be my first stop, then all connections.
Odds are your battery has a bad cell in it and is pulling the system voltage down. All the electronics going wonky is just a result of the low voltage.
If it's not the maintenance free type (has caps) you can put sacrificial probes (pieces of solid core copper wire) down in each two adjacent cells (instead of letting battery acid eat away at your good multimeter probes) to measure the voltage between each two cells in series. That voltage should be 2.1V, after charged of course. If it is a maintenance free type, leave it on the charger for however long (depends on how discharged) and disconnect the charger every once in a while to see if the voltage continues to steadily rise above 10.5V. If it does not, stop charging it, do not let it sit at 10.5V for a long time as you are then just overcharging the remaining cells, though it doesn't matter a whole lot at that point as you'd know then that you need a new battery anyway.
I'd charge it, leave it disconnected from the vehicle for a few minutes to do that test. If the battery holds a charge at 12.6V then you may have a short somewhere, though probably not the alternator since the problem is still exhibited with a different alternator.
I assume you've checked for corrosion on the battery terminals, but I might clean them anyway, and the same for the alternator cable, corrosion should've been noticed when it was replaced.
If it's not the maintenance free type (has caps) you can put sacrificial probes (pieces of solid core copper wire) down in each two adjacent cells (instead of letting battery acid eat away at your good multimeter probes) to measure the voltage between each two cells in series. That voltage should be 2.1V, after charged of course. If it is a maintenance free type, leave it on the charger for however long (depends on how discharged) and disconnect the charger every once in a while to see if the voltage continues to steadily rise above 10.5V. If it does not, stop charging it, do not let it sit at 10.5V for a long time as you are then just overcharging the remaining cells, though it doesn't matter a whole lot at that point as you'd know then that you need a new battery anyway.
I'd charge it, leave it disconnected from the vehicle for a few minutes to do that test. If the battery holds a charge at 12.6V then you may have a short somewhere, though probably not the alternator since the problem is still exhibited with a different alternator.
I assume you've checked for corrosion on the battery terminals, but I might clean them anyway, and the same for the alternator cable, corrosion should've been noticed when it was replaced.
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The battery is a maintenance free type so I can't check the cells. It's about 2 years old according the the MFG date. It was installed Dec 2017. I cleaned the corrosion on the terminals before jumping it first thing this morning. I'm going to check all the grounds, pull the battery and take it to the parts store it was purchased from to have them test it. Just in case there's any warranty left and it needs to be replaced. At 240,000 miles I don't feel bad for throwing an alternator at it.
Thanks for the help so far
Thanks for the help so far
Could be World Champion Reman Welfare Special alternator..
I had leave me stranded after just 15 miles of driving...
It was awesome... Had gone to a get together with my lady and her family and some of their friends... My car was in the road... And one of them said, "a car was in the road and kind of in the way". I was like yep... That's my superstar car
I had leave me stranded after just 15 miles of driving...
It was awesome... Had gone to a get together with my lady and her family and some of their friends... My car was in the road... And one of them said, "a car was in the road and kind of in the way". I was like yep... That's my superstar car
My wife has an 09 Sorento LX. When her original alternator stopped putting out, I bought a brand new one from the rebuilder I use. I went through four bad alternators before learning that they were Chinese. They were absolute perfect copies of the stock one. I spent ten dollars more for a Bosch reman and it has been fine for a couple of years now.
I also think you may have a bad cell so check the battery.
While you're in there, a new set of cables would probably work wonders. I replaced the cables on my 09 Suburban last spring and everything in the truck works better.
I also think you may have a bad cell so check the battery.
While you're in there, a new set of cables would probably work wonders. I replaced the cables on my 09 Suburban last spring and everything in the truck works better.
From my experience, getting a good reman'd alternator is not an easy task. However, I don't think it is an alternator problem.
Most auto parts stores can check both battery and alternator. See what they say.
(As an aside note, an alternator that is not technically bad but merely underperforming can throw all kinds of weird codes)
Most auto parts stores can check both battery and alternator. See what they say.
(As an aside note, an alternator that is not technically bad but merely underperforming can throw all kinds of weird codes)
Update and it seems to be fixed
Jumped it again this morning and drove into town watching volts in Torque the whole time fluctuate from 9.9 to 15.9. Went to the parts store where the battery was still under warranty. Turn it off and had them come out and check it, it was so low the meter wouldn't work, tried to jump start it again and not enough juice in my pack or the stores pack. With 3 months left on the warranty they replaced it free of charge. New battery installed and now the voltage is stable at 13.8-14 while driving. I'm going to chalk this one up to a teaching moment for myself and anyone else who's read this. Thanks everyone for their suggestions and help.
Jumped it again this morning and drove into town watching volts in Torque the whole time fluctuate from 9.9 to 15.9. Went to the parts store where the battery was still under warranty. Turn it off and had them come out and check it, it was so low the meter wouldn't work, tried to jump start it again and not enough juice in my pack or the stores pack. With 3 months left on the warranty they replaced it free of charge. New battery installed and now the voltage is stable at 13.8-14 while driving. I'm going to chalk this one up to a teaching moment for myself and anyone else who's read this. Thanks everyone for their suggestions and help.
Congrats for getting it fixed ! 
Maybe a good idea to hang on to the old alternator if you hadn't turned it in yet!
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