[2013GV]

AND...alternators will never fully charge a flat battery because of the way the regulators work. As a battery charges, the terminal voltage rises, and the regulator shuts down the output. unfortunately batteries actually need a steady high current to undertake the chemical conversion internally to fully charge them. (approx 1/10 of the A/H rate for 24 hrs) Alternators will supply 100A easily, but only if the load is there to use it, you will find the amps drop off rapidly as the volts come up and they will usually only supply 1 or 2 amps into the battery during normal driving.
Old style Generators used a current regulator to limit max current and had a voltage cutout to switch the generator out of circuit if it wasn't spinning fast enough.

What you have done by driving for 30 mins is "surface charged" the battery which means it will spin the car over nicely for the next 24-48 hrs, but leave it for 3 or so days and it will be flat again. Not an issue if you drive it daily, but you would need to do a trip of about 100 miles to bring it up to any decent state of charge.
Stick it on a battery charger for 24 hours, then test it again and I think you will find the alternator is ok. A basic test is start the car, turn headlights on and measure Volts at battery, should be 12.6 ish or higher, if you rev the car and the volts come up above 13, then its charging, albeit slowly, and the alternator is ok. fully charged shutoff volts is 14.2 to 14.8, anything above 13 with a flat battery is ok.

 

[brayman]

Very valuable info murcod and 2013GV! Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

So, another quick update here. Drove it a bit this morning.. was planning on going and picking up a battery charger, and after about 20 mins of driving the alternator belt started squealing [which I am more than familiar with after 3 years of squealing belts from this car - just recently learned how to properly tension them, etc]. Luckily I was close to home, parked it, opened the hood and the belt has a tear in it.. which is surprising to me. Usually they last a lot longer than that. So now, that's my new problem to deal with and removing and re-tensioning the AC belt is a pain with the fan in the way.

The funny thing is that my last alternator, the bad one from the last month, I never heard any squealing, had the tension just right, no problems.

I actually checked the belt tension before I drove it today, just to be sure. Didn't seem too loose or too tight. It is a little cooler here today [and rainy] than yesterday though, so maybe when I drove and it heated up, it expanded and loosened after driving for 20 mins? Or some kind of alignment is slightly off with the pulleys..? Who knows..

So, I won't be able to change it and figure it out until tomorrow. It's actually raining here in the northern California for once and I live in an apartment complex, so no garage or anything, just a parking lot. Blah.

 

[2013GV]

New alternator, new pulley, old belt and a flat battery. Recipe for increased belt loading and new wear patterns and obviously its failed. Check the alternator pulley for any sharp dags on the pulley before you fit a new belt. I tend to do the belts when I change any pulley, especially with ribbed belts, so easy to kill one unfortunately.

 

[brayman]

Last update probably: Changed the belt this morning. Got the battery actually charged. Then drove to get it retested.

Volts: 14.2
PASSED everything this time around.

A lot of what everyone said here was verified by other people that I talked to who knew about cars, so that was awesome. Seems it was just a bad alternator and a flat battery. I appreciate all the help and info from everyone, I learned a lot!

 

[aquanaut20]

Not being picky, but this comment indicates you were less than confident in our combined knowledge and skill.

A lot of what everyone said here was verified by other people that I talked to who knew about cars,

Wonder why your other people were not able to properly advise in the first instance...

.... Philip

 

[brayman]

Not being picky, but this comment indicates you were less than confident in our combined knowledge and skill.

Wonder why your other people were not able to properly advise in the first instance...

.... Philip

I may not have put it the right way, but that is not what I meant at all. I followed all of the advice in the forum over my dad's, bosses and stepdad's advice lol. They don't know much when it comes to electronic problems and the stuff that happened to my car.. and they also are across the country trying to help me over the phone..

What I meant was that when relaying what has happened to guys at auto stores and such, they said the same as most on here. I was just able to get confirmation is all I apologize for the confusion.

 

[2013GV]

: Changed the belt this morning. Got the battery actually charged. Then drove to get it retested.

Volts: 14.2
PASSED everything this time around.

was there any doubt?

<snip> Seems it was just a bad alternator and a flat battery. I appreciate all the help and info from everyone, I learned a lot!

Glad we could help and that you learned something in the process