C4W18

Well everything went well, other than me losing my lugnut lock key, so I had to grind down the serpentine belt bar to 1/3 its size so I could remove / install the alternator from the top side (generally done from underneath with the cobalt)....anyways, the new alternator is sick....Plug fit PERFECTLY this time...third times a charm I guess.... anyways, still kind of nervous about driving my car because of that whole power steering / srs issue earlier, but I'm going to give it a good go round tomorrow taking it easy of course.... anyways kyle just a couple more questions: What exactly did you change on the new alternator that wasn't in the old one? I know it's compatible with my PCM now (well not 100% sure yet but it's sure as hell not cycling voltage like it was with the other one)....is it solely the RVC? or was a regulator changed out? or do these two go hand in hand or vice versa etc.. I'm assuming this alternator was either used or tested a bit due to the copper coils inside looking a little dirty and some pulley damage (just scrapes on the outer rim of the pulley, no functional damage, just cosmetic, and I don't mind this at all, just wondering if this was tested or used previously with success?)... Anyways thanks Kyle, appreciate the help in this process even though it was somewhat a bitch for the both of us.

Word sounds good. Shoot me a tracking number if you can later on that alt with the RVC...thanks man!

Yea that's what Stan told me...Thanks though....and apology accepted, some of this was my fault as well. When are you guys going to be finished with those T-Shirts? Have to wear "audio related apparel" at my job so I wouldn't mind snagging one of those.

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE GROOVES! AH HA HA!

Actually Kyle, you're right in saying I was counting it incorrectly....However, I'm right when it comes to the point I was trying to make, which was that the amount of grooves STILL differ from the OEM alt.....I was (incorrectly) saying "I have a four groove and you sent me a five"...In all reality, the stock alt is a five groove and you guys sent me a six....twice....so yes, I miscounted because I, idiotically counted the hills, not the valleys, however, the grooves are, in fact, still incorrect, as seen by the picture up top. I'm sorry for assuming that I was the only Chris that ordered a 270 XP alternator for a cobalt, that was also my fault, but I did call Stan and explain the situation and waited for a call. I work at a shop in the back, and can't really be on the phone while working on customer's cars, so that's probably why I missed your call....anyways glad to see a response. Now to clarify, because there seems to be failures in communication on both ends, are you sending me out a different alt than the one mounted in my car now? Or am I taking the one out of my car, sending it in and having it reconfigured? Anyways, thank you for the response, it is definitely not going unappreciated.... Thanks, Chris Weber 2.2 2006 Cobalt <---just in case

True. I'm just throwing it in there that it's not 100% a negative experience...there's been some good riddled in there..I try to be an optimist when I can.

I mean, in some ways I respect and praise their C/S, as I've never had DC been rude to me or rush me off the phone, and Robbie's show of good faith by sending me the 2nd alt before I sent back the first one was quite nice and impressed me to say the least, but I'm kind of stuck in limbo right now, and it looks like I'm going to have to put my rewound POS alt back in temporarily...I will say that before these issues came to my attention, I was impressed and could definitely tell the difference between the rewound and the DC power alt.

Yea, supposedly Stan was going to talk to a tech today and call me back with the next step but that didn't happen......Kyle posted on this thread earlier asking for pictures which I provided, although from what I was told he was out yesterday...can't expect a man to work on his day off etc, but I thought at least one rep from DC would give the tiniest shit that my power steering is intermittent while I'm driving, especially when I paid $656...And really, I'm not complaining just to complain, I'm a very easy guy to please.....I could care less that there's chips in the aluminum casing, an extra groove in the pulley, and a plug that doesn't quite fit my car's PCM plug..I just want my product to work....I'm really glad they're offering a H/O alt for my car, but this is becoming a headache....my girlfriend had to drive me to work today because I'm worried about the lack of power steering and an SRS system while driving. Waiting for someone from DC to care....

there's no such thing as underpowering a sub...."underpowering" only becomes a problem when people go crazy with the gains (which it seems like you're doing) trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents...however if you want to get it to its full potential, push it with something along the lines of 1000-1500 rms. And like Julian said, you chose a sealed enclosure...a enclosure which requires more power to get the same amount of output as a ported enclosure.

bump...this is kinda a priority considering I need my car for work...

Did you wait 30 minutes for the GEM or BCM (depending on what kind of car you have and assuming you have a newer car) to shut down first before doing the test?

And thank you for your input shizz, but I figured I was the one doing something wrong considering this is the second alt they've sent me because the first one didn't fit correctly....I decided to take it upon myself to "make it work" so to speak by dremeling those two little notches off so it would fit in the two pin plug....obviously something isn't right and I wouldn't doubt that what you're saying is, in fact, correct..

not to sound like a dick kyle, but I already did when I sent the first alternator was sent out to me was wrong...I included a full page print in high res that showed the incorrect amount of pulley grooves and a 3 pin plug instead of a 2 pin..... It was really nice of Robbie to send me out a replacement one before I even sent out the original one that was sent to me, but it still had the incorrect amount of grooves (Which stan assured me is fine, even though it kind of bothered me I let this roll) and an odd shaped plug just this time it had the correct amount of pins.... However here's a picture: That was the original one....the shape is still the same for the plug, it just has 2 pins now.... And look, I'm not one to be an arseho, I work with customers and know how busy it is and that sometimes things are overlooked, forgotten, and mistakes are made....but I can't lie...I am getting a little frustrated and just want to know what I need to do on my end to get this alternator right....If you guys need a donation alternator I would be more than happy to ship out a stock one I have or a rewound OEM one on my dime if it would guarantee this problem would be fixed..... Thank you Chris

read a previous post and am hoping that belt slip IS the issue but.... battery light will come on and blink temporarily, lost power steering (not directly related to the serpentine belt due to the fact that it's electronic), and service airbag light came on.... voltage for my car, a chevy cobalt normally rests around 13.5 and kicks up to 14.1, after the alternator install, while the car is idling with no accessories on other than headlights the battery voltage constantly jumps from 13.5 to 14.6 like it's cycling for no reason.... I upgraded the electrical accordingly (the big 3 and a kinetik 1800, a second of which has yet to be installed, etc.).... I don't know if it's related to the plug that has to plug into the alt (I'm assuming that's the PCM plug)...the plug didn't fit into the alt properly so I had to dremel notches off the plug (car side) for it to fit in the XP...I hope someone has an idea because I could give a fuck less about the battery light but the fact that I'm losing power steering is pretty dangerous and I'd like to get this resolved. Thanks....

I could have sworn I recall Nick saying that all the soft parts were the same....