How far can I drive with a dead alternator.

[diablodude64]

I am going to pick up my first 240sx and it has a dead alternator. My question is how long will the battery last with just the engine running. I have to drive it about 30miles to my house. Thanks, Kyle

[2projects2many]

You might make it 2 miles.

[hungryjoseph]

get triple A

[MRNA]

Drive faster, you'll make it! Haha.

[574-240sx]

Throw a new alternator on it, should take maybe 10 minutes.

[SlipnSliden 240]

The battery will have no problem taking you straight to the scene of your break down point.

[S13xCrazy]

Throw a new alternator on it, should take maybe 10 minutes.

HOW LONG?

i would love to see you do this on a S13 in 10 minutes.

[CRIPES]

I am going to pick up my first 240sx and it has a dead alternator. My question is how long will the battery last with just the engine running. I have to drive it about 30miles to my house. Thanks, Kyle

i made it roughly 20 miles on my dying alternator. all i know is the alt light was on for my drive to work one day and i drove it almost all the way home on a dying/dead alt.

[574-240sx]

HOW LONG?

i would love to see you do this on a S13 in 10 minutes.

I haven't worked on a stock KA in awhile but I can do one on my SR quickly with all the shrouds, fan, etc. out of the way. I don't remember installing one on a KA being that bad.

[Felipe]

i have done this.

just get a second car and jumper cables and hope that you dont get red lights.

drive till it dies, jump it, charge it, drive and repete.

[Felipe]

I haven't worked on a stock KA in awhile but I can do one on my SR quickly with all the shrouds, fan, etc. out of the way. I don't remember installing one on a KA being that bad.

its not bad and quite simple... the only thing is that with all the shrouds, fan, etc. are in the way.

[simmode1]

This sux 4 the op, but this is a pretty funny thread...

[diablodude64]

Thanks, for the replies I will probably go to a junkyard and find a used alternator just to make it.

[AutoShadow]

Or you could just flatbed it home.

[Toshima]

My belt came off my old car and it lasted 3 day until it died. Cant remember how far i drove in that time. Just take a fully charged battery with you, and make sure that the battery in the car is full charged. Drive until one dies then swap out the other one. Im sure you'll make it. But take running shoes just in case.

[Mangudai]

I drove my car hundreds of miles on a bad alt up till a few weeks ago but that was a new battery.

[Broadfield]

As long as the battery is good and fully charged it won't be a problem. Especially if you use a charger or jumper cables to initially start the vehicle before you leave. That way you are not wasting any of the battery charge on a start up. Starting the car is what will really drain it. I have driven an hour before with no alternator. Once I got to where I was going, I shut off the car and re-started it just to see if it would..... it fired right up! Obviously you don't want anything turned on while you are driving.

[ReaperBJJ]

I'd say 20 miles max, and that's if you have no lights, radio, anything on. I've had to drive 2 cars home with dead alternators before. When my sentra's died 20 miles away from home I made it there on one 15 minute charge from my friend who happened to be in town. Second time when I was bringing my 240 home 75 miles, I had to charge it for about 20 minutes and I'd get 20 miles and repeat, this was at night though, and I had the headlights on.

Also, to who-ever said you could replace the alternator on a KA in 10 minutes....you're crazy, it'll probably take more than 10 minutes to take the fan and shroud off. Then the time needed to take the old alternator off, put the new one in and hooked up, get the belt tight, and then put the fan stuff back in.

You could try to pull the alt out without removing the shroud and stuff, but you'll probably spend more time trying to manuever it around all the hoses and stuff in the way, then it would take to just pull the fan.

[s14tan]

Drive with a battery jump pack under your hood.

[qat727]

As long as the battery is good and fully charged it won't be a problem. Especially if you use a charger or jumper cables to initially start the vehicle before you leave. That way you are not wasting any of the battery charge on a start up. Starting the car is what will really drain it. I have driven an hour before with no alternator. Once I got to where I was going, I shut off the car and re-started it just to see if it would..... it fired right up! Obviously you don't want anything turned on while you are driving.

This man speaks the truth. The car uses very little juice to keep it running. It's the headlights that kill the battery dead. As long as you don't have any accessories running, you shouldn't have a problem. Make sure your battery is fully charged. My box truck has a dead alternator. On a half juiced battery, running the headlights and starting it about 5 times, I made it 25 miles (about an hour driving time) before the battery gave up. With a full charge on a good battery, you can reasonably expect to drive several hours before the battery dies (although I wouldn't recommend it). 30 miles shouldn't be a problem, but it can't hurt to bring an extra battery just in case.

[Shift__BODOM]

I've driven probably 100 miles on a battery at night with the radio on. My belt broke during the trip and it was on the freeway (little to no stopping). When we got to the hotel I realized it wasn't starting, checked and the belt was gone...I wondered why the lights got progressively dimmer and the performance got crappier and crappier

Even with a new belt, it still wouldn't start without a jump, so make sure you get your battery checked when you replace the alternator.

[YOUNG240SX]

change it man dont ask silly questions like this .and if wanna try drive it like that subtract 5miles off the 30miles from your house to where that car is then divide that by 5.u should get 5times more of a headache for nothing changing like u should