alternator went out

[buttons]

My car started doing some funny things. lights started flashing on dash for ABS and Hicas, radio started going out... then it started to have a misfire at idle. about 5 minutes later it could barely run.

going to charge the battery and drive it over to my friends polebarn. then we will pull the old alternator out while i wait for the new one to be shipped. while we are doing this is there any thing else we should do while we are in there? Ive read the FSM printed out all the searched topics -- one guy mentioned replacing a waterpump too. Any tips or suggestions appreciated.

[qship96]

What does a waterpump have to do with alternator? Totally different non-related components.

[buttons]

It has nothing to do with the alternator unless it was leaking coolant on it. My question was "What else should I do while i got the alternator out?" One guy mentioned he was able to change the water pump in less then an hour since the alternator and AC was out of the way.

Just asking if anyone has tips or suggestions of anything else that might be a good idea to address while im working in there.

[qship96]

Alternator and a/c compressor are NOT in the way of waterpump removal, there is no reason to touch waterpump at this time if not leaking. Might as well install all new belts while they are off and check idler pullies. If oil is found on alternator case, generally it is due to leaking valvecover gaskets dripping onto alternator,which slowly kills the alternator.

A leaking waterpump does not drip on alternator.....careful who you take advice from or let work on your car

[Q45tech]

Putting a brand new alternator in a vehicle with a 2.5 + year old battery is just asking to repeat the labor even with the 12 month warranty of replacement unit.

Alternators are not designed to recharge totally dead batterries!

[Q451990]

The alternator job is one of the rare ones on the Q that doesn't have any "while you're in there" side jobs. As Q45Tech mentioned, if your battery isn't new or nearly new - it would be a good time to replace it. If it's nearly new, charge it fully before restarting the car.

Good luck!

Heath

[buttons]

thanks for the tip about charging the battery. I have no idea how old it is, but i suspect it was recently replaced. i bought the car thursday and the guy tells me he only replaced the fuel pump. However the car has brand new battery terminals on it and the battery is dirty... but its hard for me to say how old it is. the label is not faded at all, but its dirty...

Is it really hard on the battery to be drained completely? I know with older laptops its good to let the battery be completely drained otherwise it retains a memory and then never holds a full charge. but different technology im sure.

[qship96]

Automotive batteries are rapidly turned into boat anchors by allowing them to "fully drain" {discharge}.

[buttons]

i got the car over to my buddies house. we took the hood off to make it easier to work and see. the hood struts dont work, didnt want to prop it either. Took the battery out and started looking at the altenator. there was oil all over it from the valve covers. Turns out the real issue is the missing idler pulley! the belt on the alternator has so much slack you can just pull it right off without much if any force. I got a new idler pulley a few minutes ago. we're going to toss that on and see if voltage jumps up to 14.5v from 11.7v it was showing before taking the hood off.

The oil on the alternator concerns me, but i dont have time to do vavle covers right now. hopefully it can hold me over until christmas break when i have more downtime. ... so the big question is. while im doing valve covers what else should i do or look for while im in there :-) I want to turbocharge this car next summer -- so im trying to get all the maintenance stuff taken care of this winter.

[qship96]

Certainly one would want to replace the sparkplugs{factory part number only} while you have the covers off doing the gaskets. turbocharging a 16 year old tired motor is a early free ticket to the engine graveyard.

[Skibane]

Quote » I got a new idler pulley a few minutes ago. we're going to toss that on and see if voltage jumps up to 14.5v from 11.7v it was showing before taking the hood off.[/quote]11.7 volts is REALLY discharged - and will put a pretty good strain on your alternator.

If the outside of the alternator is soaked in oil, it may also mean that there's oil on the brushes inside - which would explain why it's not working. You might try spraying WD-40 inside the alternator, aiming the spray in the direction of the brushes and slip rings. WD-40 is a pretty good contact cleaner, and will help displace the oil.

[buttons]

Final update on this issue. I bought a new battery because my old one tested bad and was out of warranty by 5 months. We replaced the idler pulley and now battery terminals are showing 14.5-14.7v instead of 11.7v so my alternator was actually still working but the belt wasnt turning it.

I dont know how the idler pulley came up missing...but without belt tension that was my problem. Ill keep that WD40 idea in mind, we are going to replace the alternator belt soon too.

Edit: on a side note, the Q really doesnt like its electrical system under 14v. engine ran ok, but i had all sorts of issues -- ABS/HICAS flashing at me. radio acting goofy. all is working great now though.

[MinisterofDOOM]

thanks for the tip about charging the battery.

Yes. You hear the term "deep cycle" used with batteries...it refers to full discharge and recharge. Batteries labelled as "deep cycle" or "marine" are designed for this kind of use. Automotive starting batteries are not. Fully discharging a car battery actually physically damages the cells inside, which reduces both life and cold cranking amps (meaning the battery can get to a point where it'll hold a charge but not have enough power to start the car).