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Alternator Problem?

D

Dunbar21

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 25, 2006
Messages
47
Okay guys I have a 99 Tour with the V6 and a 5 speed. Now a while ago I would be running my car up to redline and noticed it would start hesitating in the upper rpm range (4k+) now I've noticed it seems to be happening sooner. At night when I'm driving home on the highway doing about 80mph or so and the rpm's around 4k my battery light will start flicking on and off and my head lights will dim down a lot. Anyone know what could be causing this? I'd asume the alternator.


Someone I work with told me it might be the brushes on the alternator? I don't know I hope its an easy fix. I'm kind of dreading having to replace the alternator on this car. Anyone done it before? I don't think it would be too fun.
 
yeah i had the same thing the altenator is shot get a new one you wont beleive the difference it makes

its not easy but can be done in a day. theres a how to in here sumwhere on doing it
 
Also take a close look at the condition of cables check for excessive resitance and current drop. The quality of the ground connectionis very important. Even if it looks ok take it apart and clean with electronics cleaner than reassemble. I had a similar issue on my store van, screwed around for weeks and turned out to be a slight oil film on the ground connection. As another gentleman says "do the easy ones first."
 
cvkillacontour98 said:
the best advise i can give you is get rid of it while you can. my 4th alternator just died and my car only has 96,000 miles.
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I'm not sure what help you're trying to give here. I've been through 4 alternators as well now and it's not anybody's fault but my own. Go through the steps listed in the above posts. But, I'm willing to say it is more than likely your alternator. It is most likely not your megafuse because your battery light would be on at all times. But do make sure to check the leads on the battery and on the megafuse. When it comes time to purchase a new alternator don't make the same mistake I did and pick up a remanufactured one from Autozone. Sure they are cheaper but I managed to run through two remanufactured ones before I found a good one. At least now I can pull an alterator in about an hour.
 
If its truly the alternator wouldn't the engine die if the battery + was unhooked while running. I unhooked my battery when the light was on and the engine cut off. If you had a bad mega fuse would it do the same. I also just got me 2nd alt. from autozone. (3rd for the car) Just because it was free.
 
99SE said:
If its truly the alternator wouldn't the engine die if the battery + was unhooked while running. I unhooked my battery when the light was on and the engine cut off.....
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This is a very bad practice. You could "fry" many electronic parts on the Contour. The battery acts like a buffer (suppressor).
 
Tony2005 said:
This is a very bad practice. You could "fry" many electronic parts on the Contour. The battery acts like a buffer (suppressor).
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I've never heard of anything like that. I've been working on cars for a good while at least 10 + years and My dad has 3 to 4 times more experience than I do and its the way we always find out if the alternator is bad. Is it just something that you don't do on newer cars cause its never hurt anything before. Its just as simple as if the car is still running when the battery is hooked up then the alternator is good to go.
 
It is a dangerous practice.

When I was a technician, I had the misfortune of being assigned to fix more than one that had been messed up that way.

Let's just say that you and your dad have been lucky so far and it would be wise to learn from it before you get bit.
 
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