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Anthother alternator ??? Please help

Zetec99

CEG'er
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Messages
80
Location
west texas
OK, so I strated having problems with my car yesterday. Lights went dim, radio turned of ect.... Well when I tried to turn it back on it would not start. It just made a clicking sound. (the kind when the battery is dying) Well I let it sit for about 20 minutes then tried it again and it started right up. I started to go back home and every time I would slow to a stop it would feel like if it wanted to die.

Well, I checked the battery with a volt meter later that evening and iut was reading twelve. This is normal with the car off right? Well I started it up again and checked it again and the volts just keept going down.

I figured that it was going to be the alternator.

Before I went out and spent $150 for a new alternator I did a search in CEG first. I came across a thread that said to check the fuse that contorls the fog lights and the instument cluster. Yes it was burnt out from when I tried to do the led conversion on the cluster.

My question is, could this really be the problem? Ive never heard of such a thing. Thanks for your help in advance.
 
This is where I got it from?

http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=3535


I swtiched the fuse and it seems to be working. I still dont understand why.:shrug: Can someone explain this for me? How would that fuse affect the alternator. (The instrument panel fuse) Thanks.

Fuse 5 (foglamps) also goes to the alternator.

Read this.
http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/s...mber=1117877&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=3&vc=1

And this Autozonelink Figure 16, Diagram 15.
http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1e/b3/2d/0900823d801eb32d/repairInfoPages.htm
 
It would probably be good to check the 175 amp fuse as well, they don't go to often but they give the same symtoms, it seems not in your case but when I replaced mine the plastic had split and it was badly corroded, which caused it to blow while going from Ohio to California and it happened in the middle of nowhere, me and the wife had to back track in the fusion to get to a town big enough to have a ford dealership and then had to wait until it opened to get the part. Preventative maintenance or checks are good to keep you out of situations like that.
 
The proper way to test the battery is to load test it. Put your headlights on and then check with your voltmeter. 15 seconds of discharge. A battery in reasonable shape will read at or above 10.5 v. If it falls below that - the battery might not be in good shape or there's corrosion at the battery terminals.

Corrosion at any of the grounds could be causing the problems. My '95 has six or seven different grounds. There's one on the engine cradle right beside the A/C filter, driver's side. And there's a ground under the battery. Both are just small screws through, maybe 14 guage crimped-on eyes.
 
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