Take off the front bumper... takes 5 minutes.

 

place volt meter across battery determine volts; start car , place volt meter across battery . volts with car running should be aprox. 2vdc higher . if not check for loose belt /bad altenator . what regulates the voltage to components on thes cars?

 

I'm guessing here.... most modern car alternators have built-in voltage regulator.

 

Haven't taken mine off yet but good to know.

 

5 minutes is a bit of an exaggeration. How about remove the bumper cover, release the lamp connectors, remove the aluminum bumper, swing out the A/C coil, break loose the top radiator hose, pull a few wheel well nuts, remove the inner panel and swing out the radiator. Unless you've successfully reach it up through the bottom which may be possible or stood there holding all those parts in the air. Assuming all the necessary tools were in reach, I'd give it a half hour or more. JMO

btw, one of our club members is having issues with alternators locking up after warming up. One original, one new out of the box. Anyone heard of that before?

 

My battery was being drained by a bad power steering pump. If you are having trouble with the power steering it may need to be rebuilt. You can check to see if the power steering pump motor remains on by putting the car on ramps and going underneath to hear the power steering pump. I also replaced the power steering fan to be on the safe side. Some how the power steering pump and battery are linked. I had the power steering pump rebuilt at http://www.bba-reman.com/uk/index.aspx for $200 and the car is working fine. It's been about a week.

 

If I wanted to check to see if the power steering pump motor is staying on, do I just jack up the front of the car, run the engine, then turn it off and listen to hear if the pump motor continues?

 

You can listen to it either on the ground or jacked up. Also, still no problems with my replacement.