Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Freakin' alternator probs!!!!

Ok so here is what happened. 6 months ago, I had a condition where the car put on the battery light while it was going up in RPM...RPM lowered, light went away. Two problem...bad in line fuse and bad alternator. Now today, same same! Freakin NEW alternator having issues. Low volts off of the regulator...the light comes on around 3500 and as I am driving the place where the light turns out gets lower and lower till right around 1 grand turns the volt light out. Get this, at night when driving, when the volt light is on, the lights dim. Lights out, all is peaceful in the land...till the RPMs go up again. So yes I am replacing another freakin' alternator and maybe I will break another 13mm socket on it....woooo hoooo. Got a new Stanley to do the job this time. My goal is to see if I can break another when I put it back together...haahaaa

But now to the question. LOL What the heck could be causing it to go bad? Shoot some ideas my way.

Particulars
2.0 Zetec
96 Merc Mystique
Manual tranny
no big stereo....although plans are there
replaced one alternator purchased from AutoZone
checked batt both times pulling 11-12 volts from the batt still.

What a month. I have already replaced a rear wheel brake cylinder and all the lovely paint that had bubbled up on it with pads covered in brake fluid...I had only enough time to do one side.....THEN....the front brakes I replaced because I was grinding new patterns in the rotors and of course on the way back from getting the front brake parts....this stuff happens.....Christmas??? What Christmas?? Merry Christmas to my car, Merry Christmas to my car.............



Sorry this is long....bounce some ideas around and see if we can come up with some things to check to look for on the Z engine

email and IM is sosaudio1@mchsi.com IM sosaudio1 MSN messenger fast96mystique

L8R
Rich

i know people that have to take their autozone alternators,starters,etc. back often for replacement. i think they're just not built good, but with warranty on them ,who cares?

I agree. I went through 4 of them from Autozone when I was working on my truck. I will never go back there for alternators.

Something to note from the immortal TAH and others:

Originally posted by Terry Haines:
The two major things that fail on this alternator are the brushes and the regulator(mounted with the brushes) very rare for the bearings to give out or the stator & rotor to give out...rule of thumb...just change the brushes and reg...clean the slip rings....

-------------------------

Wouldn't it be nice if this could be done on the car without removing the alternator?

-------------------------

Pssst!!!..if you can get to the rear support bracket when you are removing the alternator should be able to change the brushes & reg 'in situ'..!!!

-------------------------
Pigeon:

The Ford plant I worked at manufactured the IAR (Integral Alternator Regulator) for a time. It's the part Terry was talking about. IIRC, the brushes are mounted inside the little electronic unit. The Haynes manual details its removal and installation from the alternator with some pics of it (little unit with "Motorcraft" on its cover).

This part should be serviceable without replacing the alternator; however, you still have to go through the exercise of removing the alt to get at them. The IAR will have a seperate part number than the alternator coil, but the "alternator" assembly itself most likely has a part number that includes the IAR as part of the assembly, which probably leads to some confusion at dealers. OR, the alternator is listed seperate from the regulator and brushes which would make sense if it shows as "having no serviceable parts".

The IAR lists at $59.18 and sells for $34.62 from www.fordpartsonline.com as "Alternator, Voltage Regulator" when I looked for a 96 Contour (V6). The entire alternator lists at $179.48 and sells for $140. They also show the brushes (which don't show if I look for a 98 ???) listing at $69.98 and selling for $40.94. Assuming a new alternator includes the IAR and brushes, you can save $65 by buying from there and only getting the IAR and brushes (if that's all you need which according to Terry souds likely). Give your local dealer a call and ask if buying a new alternator from them requires you to purchase new or re-use the regulator from your old unit.

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

---

i know people that have to take their autozone alternators,starters,etc. back often for replacement. i think they're just not built good, but with warranty on them ,who cares?

---

You ever take one out? Not the easiest thing to do on our cars.

Also, who wants to get stranded and then pay towing bills over and over? Who wants their car to be down that many times? Who wants to pay someone over and over to take it out and put it in if they aren't mechanically inclined?

It seems I have the same problem. Light comes in every time RPMs exceed ~3300-3400.

I took a look to the Haynes Manual and they suggest to remove right driveaxle and unbolt Y-pipe from exhaust in order to remove alternator. Is THAT absolutely truth? I mean It seems to be NOT easy at all and very messy.
On ather hand in Ford Service CD there is no word about removal driveaxle and Y-pipes for the alternator access. Only rod-end.

Who is right? Anybody knows?

Thanks.

I replaced mine when I was doing my headers and all I had to do was disconnect the tie rod end. It took a little bit of work to get it out but I got it and now I get to do it again cause I have a faulty alternator and now it is doing the same thing with the light flikering above 3000 RPMS.

>svttour2002

Thanks, it is a relief!

By the way...
I tried today chipo three lamp tester on the highway and it shows that there is no charging even below 3000 rpm!!! Despite the battery lamp is still off. The charging is going in only from and below 2800.
Every car is different, but beware!

So the alternator was indeed bad and Autozone did replace it. We are checking the inline fuse to see if it was weak and caused the regulator to go bad early. I did replace that too.

Guys, your alternator MAY NOT BE BAD. Check the Mega fuse inline fuse first. If it is bad, you will see similar results with the charge light. This part is easier to replace and cheaper. Do it first and then see if your problem goes away. You can find the inline fuse on the Zetecs under the intake plenum that is located on top of the TB. You will see it there on the top of the black plastic intake runners on the backside of the engine.

Remember I said I was going to bust another 13mm socket on it? Didn't! But I did manage to bust up the palm of my hand good!!!! Why do we have screw threads coming out of the strut towers of our cars?????? I lost a couple layers of skin on that.

To remove the alternator on our cars requires a full day of preparedness. You are going to need it because you WILL be fighting the car the next day. You need a good floor jack and at least and long and short extention for your socket wrenches. A torque wrench wouldn't hurt and a whole lot of patience. Plus a friend that you can shout "Who designed it like this??" I said things like "They were smoking a whole lot of crack to do this like this"

Anyhoo....so now after the rear wheel cylinder, front brake discs and pads and the alternator...I am off to do the oil...and the driver side rear brake shoes.....ugh

L8R
Rich