Emercency! Please help...

[themandan40]

My bro in law and I left from Portland,OR on Friday morning for our roadtrip to Pittburgh,PA we've made it about 1500 miles to Kearney,NE and we are having problems. We think its the alternator but not sure. We were driving about 20 hours today with minimal breaks. Tonight the dash lights and head lights started dimming while driving down the highway. When we slowed down they came back on full power. We slowed to a cruising speed of 65 and drove about another 150 miles and here we are. It will dim sometimes but usually does okay. We are thinking voltage regulator and/or alternator. Can the voltage reg be replaced on the 240 or is it internal on the alt. Anyone have any helpful advice on changing the alternator and/or voltage reg? We are catching a few hours of sleep and then will look for a shop with an alt in stock. The car is a stock 93 240sx with 157k miles.

Any ideas as to how long it may last us if we keep driving like this. We may have to drive 130 miles to Lincoln,NE to find an alternator.

[positron1]

When my alternator was on it's way out I had the problem with the dimming lights and I drove off that alternator for months before it finally gave out. It took freezing cold weather to put it down for the count. I don't know if the voltage regulator is internal or not but I did change my alternator out with a new one and it only took about thirty minutes. First thing you need to do is take the air intake tube off the throttle body and move it out of the way. Then, I disconnected the negative battery cable and the alternator harness. There were three bolts on the alternator if I remember correctly, two for the bracket that holds it on the engine and the other was the tensioner bolt for tightening the alternator belt. I took/loosened the two bolts on the bracket and the alternator comes apart from the engine and pulls right out or you can drop it to the ground and pull it from below. I wish I had pics but I don't. If you can get your hands on a copy of Chiltons then you'll see the pics of the bolts you need to take off. If you are standing in the front of the car then the bolts are on the sides of the alternator and the tensioner bolt is on the left front facing towards the front bumper. You'll need a socket wrench and an extension, I can't remember what size sockets though. Good luck and let me know how it turns out. My car didn't have a fan shroud or the undertray so I had more room to manuever.

[themandan40]

Okay well we had to swap alternators in Omaha,NE. Took about 1.5 hours in the parking lot of advance auto. Runs much better now. A lot better! Thanks for the help.