I used ChatGPT yesterday to help me diagnose my charging issue with my van. Based on the behavior I've seen out of it when I've driven it (which I haven't for several weeks now), I think it must be the alternator. I did some cheaper fixes just to rule it out (cleaning the grounds), which didn't help.
So I asked ChatGPT to tell me if it thinks it was the alternator, bad pulley or a grounding issue. It gave me a couple of things to check, one of which were voltages at different parts of the charging system. I had bought a multimeter a few weeks ago when I installed my new cooktop and didn't really understand how to use it aside from doing a couple of basic things with it. So it was really neat to have AI walk me through how to test for certain things (such as 5v ripple) using it.
It was super cool to be able to get a diagnostic methodology, do that and then relay to something the results I was seeing, so it could point me in the right direction. After a few different things and going back and forth with the AI for a little while, it confirmed my suspicion that it was the alternator. So I set about removing it, which is kind of a pain on this particular car.
At any rate, soon as I got it off, I spotted what I'm pretty sure is the source of the issue:
This is where the positive end of the battery cable connects to the alternator and it's just so badly worn for only being 3-years old. So my assumption here is that the nut just simply couldn't hold the thing in place and thus why I'd see different readings at different times. Sometimes starting the van up, things would be great and then after it heated it up and things moved and shifted around, it would read low because the connection here moved and wasn't making full contact anymore. I'm going to go pick-up my new alternator soon here and get it installed today...
Unfortunately, this reveals a larger problem. My suspicion for why this stud is so badly worn is because my motor mounts are toast. I've known they have been for quite awhile and at 245k miles, it's not at all surprising, but I think that as the engine moves, it's pulling and torquing the cables, which is causing them to rub and wear on this component. 3 out of 4 of those motor mounts are super easy to do, unfortunately, that all makes-up for the 4th, which is on top of the engine in the back near the passenger compartment and it's apparently an
enormous pain in the ass.
Guess that'll be a future BeardyHat job and he can curse Present/Past BeardyHat for it at that time.