Pugulis
CEG'er
190 for an alt. I just got mine for 105. Do you live in Canada or something?
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Alternator Help!
- Thread starter rexxdoggy
- Start date
190 for an alt. I just got mine for 105. Do you live in Canada or something?
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Where did you get it that cheap? It wasn't online was it?
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
I sent the guy a message. The alternator isn't Ford. It's an aftermarket. Tomorrow, I think I'm gonna go to the dealership and see how much they want, which is like a fortune probably. haha. And aren't their labor rates ridiculous, as well?
astral
CEG'er
Of course it's gonna b a fortune for it... everything for our cars is there... especially if you mention three letters... SVT... doesn't it suck? i feel for you man... and labor rapes... oh wait.. i mean labor rates... but it sure feels like a laborious rape by the time they're done with you.... i'll check around this area for you see if i can find something reasonable for you...
but when i was looking at the placement of the alternator before i thought myself that if/when my alternator dies, i might just have a shop do it for me, too:help:... the placement is just horrible for people who work on their own cars cuz most of us don't have a lift to use and unlimited air pressure with super high psi levels... i wish you the best with this if you do decide to do it all yourself... i guess the question with it is "just how much is it worth to not have to fight with it yourself....
?"rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Of course it's gonna b a fortune for it... everything for our cars is there... especially if you mention three letters... SVT... doesn't it suck? i feel for you man... and labor rapes... oh wait.. i mean labor rates... but it sure feels like a laborious rape by the time they're done with you.... i'll check around this area for you see if i can find something reasonable for you...
but when i was looking at the placement of the alternator before i thought myself that if/when my alternator dies, i might just have a shop do it for me, too:help:... the placement is just horrible for people who work on their own cars cuz most of us don't have a lift to use and unlimited air pressure with super high psi levels... i wish you the best with this if you do decide to do it all yourself... i guess the question with it is "just how much is it worth to not have to fight with it yourself....
If you're talking about looking around for an alternator, please do! That would be much appreciated! I'm trying not to go way expensive. Because I found that if I bought the alternator myself and have the shop do it, it's like, a few bucks more than having the shop buy the part and do it. So if it's less than like, 180 for the alternator all together with shipping, it'll be cheaper for me hahaha. Not by much, but I'm tight on money since school just started and I just bought books as well as the car this past weekend. UGH! It wouldn't be so bad if I had gotten this earlier, you know? Hahaha
meh even being non oem its still prob going to be about the best price you will find........ IF you do go with any reman though make sure you get one with a lifetime warranty, you will be glad you did. Alt jobs really arent THAT bad. They suck but can be done and be done way easier than the how to on here showed with all the extensions etc.
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Well, I just texted the people that I know, know things about cars and shops and asked them where is a good place that's cheap and does good work, and a buddy of mine, who works at Vette's Unlimited and works on Corvette's all day, said he'll do it!
Icy, about the lifetime warranty, O'Reilly has a reman one with it for 189 or so.
But anyways, I'm waiting to hear back from my friend to see what he can do for me.
Icy, about the lifetime warranty, O'Reilly has a reman one with it for 189 or so.
But anyways, I'm waiting to hear back from my friend to see what he can do for me.
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Okay. JUST IN CASE it wouldn't be the alternator, what else would it be? I don't think I ever gave the back ground story but this is what happened.
Driving back home, the battery light comes on and is pretty solid. Little later on my tachometer starts going crazy and then reads zero shortly after. A little after that, my speedometer also reads zero. Then, miscellaneous lights on the dash come on in this order, e-brake light, passenger airbag light. Then, when I push the gas pedal down to accelerate, it won't allow me to. So I struggle into the exit and my car just dies. Got a new battery. Starts up, but of course, the battery light is on, BUT, ONLY after 2K rpms. Anything under it, I would assume is not pulling an extreme load from the battery, but anything above 2K rpms, and that light is on solid.
Now, since then, I have gone under the car and noticed the broken off power wire to the alternator and, for obvious reasons, gives me the impression, and everyone else, that that was the cause of the car dying, since it was driving from just battery juice and therefor drained it since it was not getting charged from the alternator. Now, for any strange reason, there wouldn't happen to be any other cause for this to happen, would there? Just throwing it out there because my dad has been nagging me about getting the car fixed and blah blah blah. Any input would be awesome. Even though I'm pretty sure that because of the unnattatched alternator wire, that would be the culprit.
Driving back home, the battery light comes on and is pretty solid. Little later on my tachometer starts going crazy and then reads zero shortly after. A little after that, my speedometer also reads zero. Then, miscellaneous lights on the dash come on in this order, e-brake light, passenger airbag light. Then, when I push the gas pedal down to accelerate, it won't allow me to. So I struggle into the exit and my car just dies. Got a new battery. Starts up, but of course, the battery light is on, BUT, ONLY after 2K rpms. Anything under it, I would assume is not pulling an extreme load from the battery, but anything above 2K rpms, and that light is on solid.
Now, since then, I have gone under the car and noticed the broken off power wire to the alternator and, for obvious reasons, gives me the impression, and everyone else, that that was the cause of the car dying, since it was driving from just battery juice and therefor drained it since it was not getting charged from the alternator. Now, for any strange reason, there wouldn't happen to be any other cause for this to happen, would there? Just throwing it out there because my dad has been nagging me about getting the car fixed and blah blah blah. Any input would be awesome. Even though I'm pretty sure that because of the unnattatched alternator wire, that would be the culprit.
astral
CEG'er
if you want to make sure it's the alternator, and only if you can safely do this (perhaps have someone follow you with jumper cables or something), you can take the car to autozone or advance auto or something of the like and they can actually take a cart out to the car, and connect a couple things and test the alternator as the car is running, and can tell you if the alternator is charging the battery and if it's running good.....
honestly... this may draw some static from some people... but i've been thinkng about this... and there might be an alternative for you to explore....
think about the problem.. the head of the bolt that attaches that wire to the alternator has busted off... taking with it the connector from that wire... you can always put a new connector on the end of that wire... and if there's enough room to do it (i haven't looked mysefl to see if there is...) there are kits that you can get to pull out stripped screws etc, or if really needed, and this would take some decent room... you could get a heli-coil kit, drill out the stud part of the old bolt and tap in the helicoil... and then just have to put in a new bolt into the newly drilled and tapped hole with the new connector and it should work... so there's a couple other options...
if you don't know what a heli-coil is, it's basicly a way to drill out and rethread a hole... like say, you bust the head off a bolt trying to break it loose... so you would then drill out the rest of the bolt, use the tap that comes with the helicoil tostart to tap it... and then put in the spiral helicoil... and you can then put a new bolt of the same size in.... the heli-coil kit usually comes with just about everything you need except a drill and stuff... so... there's a couple ideas for you...
or you could just jerry rig it and find a way to solder that wire back on to the alternator... but that's a really cheap and not so smart fix... but a fix none the less... (let the flaming begin on that.... i know it's coming but i thought i'd give him some ideas of what all could be done to save some $$ or time... i have warned that it may not be the best idea in the world so....)
honestly... this may draw some static from some people... but i've been thinkng about this... and there might be an alternative for you to explore....
think about the problem.. the head of the bolt that attaches that wire to the alternator has busted off... taking with it the connector from that wire... you can always put a new connector on the end of that wire... and if there's enough room to do it (i haven't looked mysefl to see if there is...) there are kits that you can get to pull out stripped screws etc, or if really needed, and this would take some decent room... you could get a heli-coil kit, drill out the stud part of the old bolt and tap in the helicoil... and then just have to put in a new bolt into the newly drilled and tapped hole with the new connector and it should work... so there's a couple other options...
if you don't know what a heli-coil is, it's basicly a way to drill out and rethread a hole... like say, you bust the head off a bolt trying to break it loose... so you would then drill out the rest of the bolt, use the tap that comes with the helicoil tostart to tap it... and then put in the spiral helicoil... and you can then put a new bolt of the same size in.... the heli-coil kit usually comes with just about everything you need except a drill and stuff... so... there's a couple ideas for you...
or you could just jerry rig it and find a way to solder that wire back on to the alternator... but that's a really cheap and not so smart fix... but a fix none the less... (let the flaming begin on that.... i know it's coming but i thought i'd give him some ideas of what all could be done to save some $$ or time... i have warned that it may not be the best idea in the world so....)
funinak
CEG'er
Hijack.......
Hijack.......
Sounds like what my car has been doing but not as bad. When I pull up to an intersection and stop at idle the guages start jumping around various lights come on but when I pull away they all go away. I believe I traced it down to loose connections at the battery. But was wondering IF this megafuze that was talked about could be going bad since it seems to be intermittent. Where is this fuze and how do I check it? I had Schmucks/O-Riley's run an electrical check on the car and the battery load tested good, but the alternator was initally NOT charging untill I placed a load on it?? It was at idle and I turned on the brights and the blower motor. Then it kicked in and started charging. I've ALWAYS noticed that the dash lights dim when it's at idle and the brighten up a bit as the RPM's go up. Is this normal? Sorry to hijack the thread.
Hijack.......
Sounds like what my car has been doing but not as bad. When I pull up to an intersection and stop at idle the guages start jumping around various lights come on but when I pull away they all go away. I believe I traced it down to loose connections at the battery. But was wondering IF this megafuze that was talked about could be going bad since it seems to be intermittent. Where is this fuze and how do I check it? I had Schmucks/O-Riley's run an electrical check on the car and the battery load tested good, but the alternator was initally NOT charging untill I placed a load on it?? It was at idle and I turned on the brights and the blower motor. Then it kicked in and started charging. I've ALWAYS noticed that the dash lights dim when it's at idle and the brighten up a bit as the RPM's go up. Is this normal? Sorry to hijack the thread.
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Now, I would be totally down for that. But the thing is, I'd have to take the darn thing out anyways. And that's the problem I'd have. It would take too incredibly long. Otherwise, I'd buy the part, and do it myself no problem, you know? It's just so damn cramped and I've never pulled one of them out.
not going to work since the alt has a stud that broke off there wouldnt be any way to replace that stud unless you had 2 alts and mde one good one out of the 2 but then he is still doing the labor which he wants to avoid lol.
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Well, if things don't turn out the way I want, I might end up doing it myself to save the money, and I really don't mind spending time down there, just rather not. There are 4 bolts that need to be undone? Correct me if I'm wrong. I want to know before hand what will be going down. And of course the power wire that should be getting here soon.
there are two main ones, then a small one for a middle bracket, then normally the nut for the power wire on the stud, plus unplugging the wires.
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
Haha, taken care of the power wire one! :laugh:
:laugh:Big Jim
Hard-core CEG'er
Really now, do you really think that our crystal balls are any better than yours?
I already gave you the best advice on what to do first but maybe you missed it.
CHARGE THE BATTERY. HAVE IT TESTED IF YOU WISH. IT WILL TAKE A FEW HOURS OF DRIVING FOR IT TO RUN DOWN AGAIN. BY THEM YOU SHOULD HAVE A PRETTY GOOD IDEA AS TO IF THERE IS ANYTHING ELSE WRONG.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother to post.
astral
CEG'er
have you check that your auto belt tensioiner/ accesory drive belt are working properly... eg correct belt tension or that there aren't a million missing ribs on the actual belt... it's possible that at idle there isn't enough tension on the belt to be turning the alternator or that with enough missing ribs it's not ... just a thought... also the alternator may be gettting tougher to turn and need that extra torque to really get it going.... or it could need the brushes inside changed as they could be wearing out.... just thoughts...
yes.. it could work.. he would just need a bolt the same size as the origanal stud or whatever helicoil kit he got. the only diff between a bolt and a stud with a nut is one is a one piece and the other is two pieces... he would just have to thread the power wire onto the bolt before screwing it in. remember... helicoil procedure.. DRILL OUT WHAT'S STILL THERE! the stud would be gone and a bolt COULD take it's place...
Haha, taken care of the power wire one!
does this mean that you've gotten the problem solved..?? or that the power wire it now there? or that you've put a connector on the end of the power wire... please elaborate....
sometimes jim.... they really do think our crystal balls are in HD with a direct line to Ms. Cleo AND the Psychic friends network... or so it seems...
rexxdoggy
Hard-core CEG'er
I know you have, but my question was if there was anything else that might be involved by any chance. Sometimes with mechanical failures, one obvious fix might not have solved the problem and the problem still persists.
Look at the picture in my very first post. Icy said one of the bolts was for the power wire. The picture depicts that, well, it's no longer connected