No juice!!!
#1
No juice!!!
Ok, so I'm driving home from a looong day at work, and my voltage light comes on. Now I'm on a 50 mile commute in Alaska-not many places to stop, so I decide to come on in. 5 minutes away from my house, the car just loses power. I kill the heater, radio, etc, and get a little more go, and then it dies, with no chance of starting again. I turn the key, and just get the click.
My thought is the alternator, right? I never had a front drive car before, so how hard is this to replace? Looks like its pretty easy to get to being located right on top of the motor, but what about belt routing? Is there anything else that would cause that kind of power loss? The damn thing looks brand new! Any help is appreciated.
My thought is the alternator, right? I never had a front drive car before, so how hard is this to replace? Looks like its pretty easy to get to being located right on top of the motor, but what about belt routing? Is there anything else that would cause that kind of power loss? The damn thing looks brand new! Any help is appreciated.
#2
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the belt routing is marked on the core support of the rad. the alt is a very simple swap. to confirm that its the alt, jump start it and use a voltmeter and see what the voltage is at the battery when its running.it should be somewhere between 13.8-14.6 volts. if it is ok , then have your battery checked. i have seen batteries get floaters in them. it is debris inside the battery that shorts out the plates inside it. it will rain a battery quick. but it does sound like its the alt. they have an internal voltage reg.
hope this helped.
oh btw, you dont need to take the belt the whole way off. just take it off the alt and leave it in there.
hope this helped.
oh btw, you dont need to take the belt the whole way off. just take it off the alt and leave it in there.
#3
Another easy way is to jumpstart the car, like jeffrey said (let it charge for about 10 minutes first), then after the car is running, disconnect one of the battery cables. If the car dies, the Alternator is dead and you were running off the battery. You've got a pretty classic case of alternator-itis. The good news is you can change it with only 2 sockets. One for the tensioner, one for the 2 bolts on the alt bracket. It'* a 5 minute job, in and out.
#4
i doubt that this is it, but check your grounds before you you bet a new alternator. i had similar problems, bat power going from full to red zone. I checked my grounds and i found one that had become really loose and i tightened it and it fixed my prob. i hope that your prob is as easy as mine did. but yours sounds a little worse. good luck
#5
Well, I was just now able to check your replys, and yes, it was the alternator. I was shocked at how easy it was to replace! I was in there for no more than 10 mins! However, I was even more shocked at the cost of a new alt. First quote I got was $225, someone else wanted $267, and I finally got one for $165. Holy crap! The most I ever spent before was $90 bucks! Oh well, any way, it got done and now I am once again cooking with gas! Thanks again for your help!
#6
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they cost more because with all the acces. that they ssei has, you need the amps.
another thing, what did the belts look like when you took them off. it you have more than 3 cracks in 3" one any one rib, its time to replace them. i dont know about other companies, but NAPA has a lifetime warr. on there prem. belts
another thing, what did the belts look like when you took them off. it you have more than 3 cracks in 3" one any one rib, its time to replace them. i dont know about other companies, but NAPA has a lifetime warr. on there prem. belts
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