Alternator receives signal from ECU after twenty or so minutes to start charging the battery

Tiny
KRSTE GEROVSKI
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 MAZDA 626
  • 2.0L
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 80,000 MILES
Hi
I have the sedan model. It has an issue with charging the battery.
The car always starts very easy however the alternator is not charging the battery right from the start.
Have this problem for more than a year and here is more precisely what is happening:

When I start the engine (cold engine not started for more than three hours) alternator does not start charging the battery immediately but after twenty to forty minutes and afterwords everything works fine so the alternator charges the battery as normally as it should. It does that for an unlimited time as long as the engine works or it has not been turned of for more than two hours.
However, after turning of the engine and letting it cool down for more than two hours the symptom occurs again (again alternator takes a lot of time until starts charging the battery).
Just to mention that within the period of about less than two hours after turning of the engine, the car can be started easy and the alternator charges the battery as normal as it should (right from the time of starting the engine).
The other thing I have noticed is that If I drive a relatively cold engine on a freeway alternator starts charging the battery even later, maybe after fifty minutes probably depending of how cold the weather is.

Have this problem for more than a year.
Visited several auto mechanics, tested the battery and alternator, both are good.
I hope you know what is the problem with the car and might give me an advice what should be done.

Thank you
Saturday, September 2nd, 2017 AT 6:58 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
Your title suggests you want to blame the ECU for this. Let me state that the ECU plays no part in the charging system circuit.

You issue have to be to to a connection issue somewhere in the power feeds to the alternator or the alternator itself. Possibly a connection problem on the output of the alternator.
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 AT 8:38 AM
Tiny
KRSTE G
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Hi, this is again Krste the one who originally posted the above question, just for unknown reason I could not login to this forum in the same way as I did previously with my Face Book account. So I had to make another login account but I am not able to re-edit the original question.
Anyway I would like to thank WRENCHTECH for replying.
I did not intend to put a blame on any part of the vehicle, at least not at all on the ECU.
Actually ECU sends the activating signal to the alternator but as it is mentioned in the question it happens not in proper times as it should.
The more what I was wondering about is if the ECU gets some information from some sensors in the car that are not working as properly as they should. So if I dare to blame I would address the blame to some of the sensors. The question is which one of the sensors (I do not have the full knowledge of which sensor what particular does).

The wire connections to and around the alternator were checked by me and a few auto mechanics using an universal Ohm-Amper_Volt instrument, so definitely they are okay.

(by the way the car is: Mazda 626 GF1998 Automatic. The alternator is: Mitchubishi 12V 80A model: A2TB0191)
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 AT 6:01 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
No, the ECU does not send any signal to the charging system. As I stated before, the ECU plays no part in the charging system circuit. Check the diagrams below to see for yourself
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 AT 6:07 PM
Tiny
KRSTE G
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
This is what I found about the particular Alternator(Mitsubishi A2TB0191):
"These types of Alternator do not have a traditional Regulators but instead have a field control Unit.
Alternator has a P-D Connector
Mitsubishi A2TB0191 Alternators with P-D Regulators require special testing, the voltage control & warning lamp functions are in the vehicle PCM (Computer).
* P Terminal is Stator Phase & is a direct connection to stator AC Volts.
This allows the PCM to Monitor Alternator Field.
* D Terminal is Driver connected to Vehicle PCM (Computer), and is used to control the output of the field control unit by varying base current on a transistor which in turn varies field current thereby controlling Alternator output and voltage.
______________________________________________

The above means:
-on the P terminal PCM monitor the Alternator Field
- D Terminal is Driver connected to Vehicle PCM (Computer) from where gets a control signal.
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 AT 6:38 PM
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
This vehicle has no connection between the charging system and the ECU as per attached wiring diagram. The regulator is internal to the alternator, not the the ECU.
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Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 AT 6:42 PM

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