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Alternator killer

K

kscontourkid

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Nov 4, 2004
Messages
941
Location
Overland Park, KS
ive had my car(99 se 2.5) for 3 years now in that time i have gone through 4 alternators. two in the first few months and one per year after and coming to the beginning of the fourth year im getting nervous $800 at ford for new alternator. i DO NOT have a big stereo in my car or anything else that would normally cause this delema. in the first four months i had the car i had 2 meineke alternators in the car and my dad finally said **** them and we went to ford. ford said there was nothing wrong with the car and replaced the altornator and battery ($800) everything seemed fine no problems for 13 months. warranty on alt was 12 month 12K mile it crapped. took it back to ford and explained about 3 alt in 2 years and they said they could find nothing wrong but the tech did notice that the alt was covered in oil but could not find the source of the leak just said to clean alt every oil change. well about a month ago i think i found the leak. i found a leak anyway in the general area. the power steering pump seems to be leaking or (high preassure line) but rediculously slowly. i go through half a resivior about every 2-3 months of fluid. but that is at the front of the engine can anyone help me or herd of this problem before???
 
Clean the area well. Sprinkle some talcum powder. Drive a day or so and the leak should be obvious. There was thread or two from the old forums about a leak from the PS pump or the seal on the front (passenger side) of the engine.
 
If that doesn't work check all of your grounds (usually black wires w/ eyelet bolted directly to body/chassis) you may not be able to see all of them but the more you find and verify their not corroded and making good contact to the chassis the less draw there will be on the alternator. (the more resistance after the load the more the alternator has to work to re-up the battery.) hope that helps and have a good one.
 
The power steering pump is on the top of the passanger side of the engine, it is feasible it is runing down and getting your alterantor. The 2.5 also over time has problem where the harmonic balancer pulley gets out of balance due to the rubber hub slipping, this causes the seal to leak since the seal rides on the hub of the pulley. Oil starts to sling to the rear of the engine or towards the firewall and alternator. Fix for it is to replace the pulley and seal together.
I am sure part of the Meinke issue was they were using rebuilt alternators from a cheap source. Why the Ford one went is beyond me. Unless oil is causing it to fail. $800 seems pretty excessive for an alternator and battery. The list price of a Ford alternator is $232.22...
 
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that was installed 800 my dad insisted so if it continued they couldnt blame it on my install. i know there is a leak in the PS and there is a clear leak from the PS pump/vicinity of. but would that really kill an alternator and how? any tricks for changing the PS pump? thanks
 
kscontourkid said:
... i know there is a leak in the PS and there is a clear leak from the PS pump/vicinity of. but would that really kill an alternator and how? ....
Click to expand...
Yes. Contour PS Fluid is ether ATF Type F or Mercon. This fluid is very caustic. If it gets on the wiring, voltage regulator or internal coils, it could easily cause damage.

kscontourkid said:
......? any tricks for changing the PS pump? thanks
Click to expand...
Powersteeringpump in Autozone link
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/0900823d/80/1b/d6/8b/0900823d801bd68b.jsp
 
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