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2nd bad alt - getting mad

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Darkcrimedc

CEG'er
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
91
Purchased the car last august. Battery light would flash every once in a while in high rpm's only. In March, my Alt died along with the battery. I had a friend replace the alt (Ford Reman.). Everything worked fine until my battery light came on again after I raced someone. It would come on at high rpm and low rpm's only when the car was moving though, not when I was in neutral and revving.

I took my car into a shop to have them look at my ac, (ended up replacing a tie-rod while they were at it), and while they were doing that, I had them check my alternator.

The mechanic said my alternator is bad (decharging itself). Within the 100ft trip home, my lights started to come in (brake light, abs light, etc, same thing that happened the first time it died). I went to start the car the next day, Nothing. Batteries dead.

Since then, I replaced the Mega Fuse, and had my warrantied battery retested and recharged. I installed the battery, car started, checked my voltage and I was only reading 11v while the car was running (ok, bad alt again). That was the only time I started the car (a whole whopping 5 minutes).

I just went out to move it to my driveway, and the car won't start (clicking, beeping sound of my door open is getting weaker), looks like my battery drained again... What's going on here? shouldn't the full battery have lasted more than a few minutes of running before it drained itself? This car is killing me. I haven't kicked the car yet, I'm about to!!! hehe.

What else could it be? just a bad alt again? anything else I can do? I read up on the clipping the wire deal on the alternator to the battery (would the dealership cover this?), but would that keep killing the alt/bat?

Thanks for any help.
 
Sounds EXACTLY the same problem i had my alternator. Voltage regulator kicked the bucket.. soo when i gave it gas it put out 19-20volts blew my battery Fuse 32.. and my airbag sensor..

i forget what fuse 32 was but it killed my car... check out your fuses but yes its looking like its toast :(
 
Just tested the battery - 9.8v I guess I'll have to go up to murrays AGAIN and wait for an hour, again to get this battery taken care of.

Could this be my starter?
 
A freshly charged battery shouldn't drain to 9+volts that quick whether the alt. is bad or not. You might have some shorting somewhere that's constantly draining the battery.

As far as I know, Contours are known to kill the alts. Just to make you feel good, I replaced it 3 times. So if you count the alt. that came with the car, the one on the car is my 4th alternator:))))

Again, even if your alt. is totally dead, a freshly charged battery should keep the car running up to 100miles or even more. Of course this assumes, you don't drive it in the nights, and keep the radio, a/c and other power consuming things off.
When I was tracking down my issue, I was going to work with a dead alt. and the car was working just fine. My round trip to work was about 35miles. I would just charge the battery in my garage couple hours every night.

So to make the long story short(I typed too much:))), I would check to see if there is constant draw from that battery when the car is off.
 
no.

your starter is ONLY used when ACTUALLY starting the car.. after, when its running, its not used.. when the car is off, its not a culprit. It can't make your battery voltage read 9.8V for no reason.

Failed, faulty, and generally crappy replacement alternators are common.. LESS common with Motorcraft units, especially when new, but it happens. Aftermarket, especially rebuilt units (Autozone brands, etc) have failed out of the box, AT THE STORE, three in a row.
 
Ok, welp, I hope it's just the alt again... I'm going to take it to speedy auto (they warrant the labor so if it dies again i'm good).

It is the ford reman alt, and I hope I don't have a short. If that's the case, the car is gone. I have a baby on the way now and can't deal with this bs.

Thanks for the help guys.
 
an alternator isn't that hard.. you should consider doing it yourself with a minimal amount of tools..

Check out the how-to under the Duratec Maintenance forum (in the "read first" thread). Well, that is, if your car is a Duratec. You mention nothing of the year, engine or model, etc. I can only guess but you said megafuse so I can assume.
 
And forgot to mention, all the 3 alternators I used were from Advance Autoparts and they were reconditioned:)
 
Always post mileage, year, engine and transmission type when requesting troubleshooting help.

Check Fuse 5 (foglamps). If that is blown, for the early years, your alternator will not charge the battery.
 
oopse, I thought I had a signature with my cars listed. oh well. I have a 99 svt (duratech). I've seen the write-up's on it a lot. My main problems:
1. I have minimal tools, I would have to go buy the 3ft worth of extensions (which would cost a decent amount of money)
2. Most of my car repairs I do at my friends house, but he's busy the next few weeks.
3. I also have purchased the alt at an out of state dealership (not sure if I can get a swap here or not), so the car would be on jack stands for a week or so.

It looks like a pain in the ass, but I'm sure I could do it. If I had the tools, I honestly would do it myself at my house. This sucks.
 
Darkcrimedc said:
oopse, I thought I had a signature with my cars listed. oh well. I have a 99 svt (duratech). I've seen the write-up's on it a lot. My main problems:
1. I have minimal tools, I would have to go buy the 3ft worth of extensions (which would cost a decent amount of money)
2. Most of my car repairs I do at my friends house, but he's busy the next few weeks.
3. I also have purchased the alt at an out of state dealership (not sure if I can get a swap here or not), so the car would be on jack stands for a week or so.

It looks like a pain in the ass, but I'm sure I could do it. If I had the tools, I honestly would do it myself at my house. This sucks.
Click to expand...

Check Fuse 5. Make sure foglamps are working (and the connectors are clean). Fuse checker (tester) is about $10. Comes with about 10 fuses at Advance or Autozone.
 
I didn't put my fuse tester to it yet, but the fog lights do work and the fuse looked fine so I'm assuming it's fine (didn't see a break).

I just e-mailed some friends. If I can get everyone to loan me a tool or two, I might do this myself in a week or so. I have the week of the 4th of july, I might as well try it. If anyone's in the Metro Detroit area that wants some free beer and pizza to help make my life easier, your more than welcome.

It doesn't seem to hard to do, but I'm sure my first time will be 5-6 hours I'm sure! Hopefully I can get it done and fixed so I can keep this car. I like the car, but if it dies again, it's gone. Mabye I'll get a focus or something.
 
Darkcrimedc said:
...Everything worked fine until my battery light came on again after I raced someone. It would come on at high rpm and low rpm's only when the car was moving though, not when I was in neutral and revving.

...
Click to expand...
Something got loose in the alternator or some connector got loose.
 
You load it hard and a diode fails. Know that Focus does it too, same alternator other than computer controlled. My boy's toasted alternator had 24000 miles on it. On his 6 of 8 diodes were clearly melted. I'm thinking there's more than one of those type, identified by the color of the regulator plastic?? Match old one to new? I know the rebuilders identify that way.
 
Darkcrimedc said:
1. I have minimal tools, I would have to go buy the 3ft worth of
Click to expand...

You can buy a 3/8 in 24" on up. You can get a cheap brand for peanuts. You don't buy 6" at Sears and stack them up. LOL! Every person should have tools no matter what. You'll use them many times in your life. I'm sure if you post in your region a CEGer will help you.
 
I hear ya there man. I wan't tools. Since my dad passed, my mom gave me most of his tools, but they are incomplete kits. Tools are expensive and I just can't afford it like some of you guys, hehe.


Anywho, my buddy has most of the tools, I gotta see if others have the other tools
 
Ok, so thank god my neighbor has tools up the wazoooooooooo. I have everything off except for the 10mil bolt (both 13mil bolts are off, got the one from the top, the other from the bottom)... Is this the bolt that goes to the mounting bracket (the little bracket)? I couldn't see where it was (not enough light by the time I got to it) so I'll have to try tomorrow). I'm looking at the diagram autozone gives you and it looks like it wouldn't be TOOOOOOOOOOOO hard to get to. Any help would be appreciated.
 
another update.

So my friend that worked on the alt before hand DIDN'T PUT THAT BRACKET BACK ON. I looked at all of the diagrams, and everything people were saying, and could NOT find it. I took a crobar to it and it popped out. Low and behold, no bracket. Called him up, he has no clue, "it should have been on there"... yeah, no kidding!

So now I have to wait till Thursday to get that bracket/bolt from the dealership. I should have this completed then. Can't wait to drive the contour again. The mustangs fun, but it's an auto.
 
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