Brief history of problem:

1998 Contour SE 24V Duratec/Manual/112,000

Bought used, had since 2002.

About a year ago noticed lights were dimmer, and would flicker a little when driving at night. Though either batt or alt.

6 months ago while driving on highway car basically shut off. RPM's dropped, MPH did, all lights down to barely being on, clock went dim. Would let of gas for a while and would come back to life, run as normal for 1 minute then repeat. Clock DID NOT reset and all settings including radio stations were remembered. ONLY would do this when I went over 70, while under 65 was fine, light still flickered a little. Thought was either voltage regulator or alt. I understand the volt regulator is on the alt?

Yesterday, low batt light was flashing, when rpms increased while driving it would go away. Drove about .5 mile and rpms, mph dropped, and car was acting like it was gasping for air. All lights dimmed same as before. It shut off and I could not restart it. BUT, radio stations still there, clock still right, interior lights still bright as before. Got a jump and ran for about .2 mile and did the same thing. Jumped no problem.

It will not start without a jump. I believe it is the alternator. I had the battery tested at autozone 6 months ago when first happened and read OK, not perfect but ok. Put on a full load and still read ok.

Everyone think its the alternator? REcommend where to get a new one/link on how to put it in? Any tips for putting one in? Thanks, much appreciated.

Oh boy! Dealer $600 or so. But go to Main Site, Duratec Maintenance, and you will see on the second line, there is a post for most maintenance and how to items. Ray did a alternator change with pictures. I have not have the misfortune of needing to do it myself yet but it seems to be a bear.

Main Index (not Main Site), Duratec Maintenance, 2nd Line-FAQ Duratec Maintenance.

Hope it helps.

If the car is running what is the battery voltage? It should be 13-15 volts. If less than 12.6 it is not charging, which could certainly be the alternator. Check the belt and the wiring. My neighbor had a battery fail, and his car would only start with a jump. Try a new Motorcraft battery because it is made to fit correctly. Or, retest the existing battery after fully charging it with a battery charger. I hope it's not the alternator..

Before jumping on an alternator replacement:

is your battery light on all the time, or only at certain rpms?

A STEADY battery light (actually has nothing to do with the battery... it is actually a CHARGE state light) could indicate either a faulty alt (not charging at all) or a bad "megafuse" not allowing a GOOD alt to charge the battery.

a flickering light would tend to disprove the megafuse, but point to the alternator itself, or POOR wiring between the battery and alt, or ground.


Ray

This is The Ray who posted the alternator replacement with pictures. I would listen to him.

Thanks for the replies. The batt indicator light is not steady, it flickers heavily and goes away as I start to accelerate, usually comes back a little when i lay off the gas.

I'll test my batt again tonight.

I cleaned off the terminals and battery a few months ago so they are clean and I checked that they are receiving good link.

The main thing that makes me think its the voltage regulator is that whenever I would go above 70 for over 20 mins it would do the same thing its doing now.

My thinkings are if I go outside and the battery is dead after sitting for two days, its the alt.

The best way to determine is to charge the batt fully and put it in the car. If by letting it sit it goes dead its the alt correct?

Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming.

If the battery is good, it should take longer than 2 days (maybe two weeks), before you lose all the charge (clock and other miscellaneous small drains) without driving it.
If you lose all the charge within two days, it sounds like there is a short somewhere and the battery is getting drained by it.

If you drive it after charging it, and it loses charge while you are driving (though I have read in an earlier post that you can probably drive 70 miles or so on a good battery/bad alternator combo), then I would say that it is probably the alternator.

or the "...POOR wiring between the battery and alt, or ground."

I will check the wiring. Specifically, what wiring do I need to check and how to I determine if it is corrupt and needs to be replaced?

Thanks

I weould start by cleaning the terminals.

Also, how old is your battery, did you charge it and test it again per earlier post suggestions. If your battery is 5 years old or so, maybe it is time for a new one.

You may want to leave the terminals disconnected for this. Then check the the black (negative) to see if it is frayed with wire exposed, all the way to the ground (body of the car) and if the connections are loose. Then check the red (positive) all the way to the alternator. Again if the connections are loose or wire is frayed.

And before you do that, do a search on Troubleshooting and put "alternator wire", and all post. You should find a ton of useful information that might help you.

Good luck.

My friend has the same car with a newer battery. I'll take his battery out and drive abouve 70 for 30min. If it doesn't act up I'll assume its my battery. I hope its my battery

Still open to suggestions

If you are going to take out your battery, might as well clean the terminals and check the wires first before putting in the good battery in. It might save you a few steps down the road. Also charge up the old one and put it in the trunk (with the tools) while you are driving. Just in case you need another battery to get home.

Good luck.

Pardon my ignorance on the specific manner of "checking the wire" I've look at them and they appear to be ok. Where do I need to follow them two to make sure they are 100%, and is it just the positive and negative cable wires you are referring too?

"Then check the the black (negative) to see if it is frayed with wire exposed, all the way to the ground (body of the car) and if the connections are loose. Then check the red (positive) all the way to the alternator."

You may have to drive the car up a ramp or put it on jackstands for the red (positive) to the alternator part.

"Disclaimer. Never work under the car with just the temporary or hydraulic jacks (that you buy from parts store). Serious injury could result if the jack fails and the car falls down".

If I put in my friends battery and its good above 70 for a while is it safe to say its MY battery? Do I have to have the battery in longer, why?

Okay, just so there is no misunderstanding. It is 70 miles (distance) not 70 mph (unless you drive for one hour, then it would be 70 miles distance). I think the previous post (about a week ago) was to show how far he could go on a good battery/bad alternator combo.

You are trying to determine if the alternator or wiring is bad. If the "new" battery holds charge and continues to be charged while being driven, then the "old" battery is the problem. If the "new" battery doesn't hold the charge, then maybe it is the wiring or the alternator.

Of course, if you drive for an even longer period of time and the car is still fine, then it is probably a problem with the "old" battery. Like I said earlier, you may want to put the "old" battery (fully charged) in the trunk with tools so that you don't get stranded if the "new" battery gets completely drained so that you don't get standed by the side of the road.

Incidentally, you probably read that Masscontour posted today that his problem was the negative cable. We can hope that it is the same for you. A cheap fix if you do it yourself.

CORRECTION: Sorry for the confusion, it is 70MPH, not 70 miles.

Once I go 70MPH or faster for over 20 minutes it starts to have problems as described before.

Hope this clears things up. Thanks.

If you need to do more troubleshooting after trying the battery substitution, try borrowing or buying a digital voltmeter to measure voltage and resistance, very handy working on cars, or almost anything else.

UPDATE:

Got home and worked on it after work tonight.

- Volts when car was off and sitting for 4 days was 11.5
-Charge for 30 mines, turned on fine, battery light was flickering volts were at 10.65!
-Turned it off, volts still low

Friend brought his over with Motorcraft batt that is 1 year old. His volts were 13.0 off
- 13.5 at load, and 13.0 idle

Checked my wiring as much as I could, everything looked fine. I will put it up on jack stands tomorrow night to double check.

Here's my thinking:

Swap batteries from my car to his
1. If MY batt in his car is fine, batt is fine, probably my alt.
2. If MY batt in his car is crap still, could be either my batt or alt, but probably which one?

3. If HIS batt in my car is crap volt readings, its my alt.
4. If HIS batt in my car is fine, probably my battery.

Does this seem like a logical process, comments suggestions?

i do have a voltimeter. Thanks for everyones help.

ITs your alternator. (or wiring associated with alt)



At IDLE your battery should have 14.2-14.6 volts on it.

this is the voltage measured that is being MAD Eby the alternator, not that the battery is ACCEPTING.. (ie, even a BAD battery would have that voltage reading when running, it just simply wouldn't accept the voltage as a charge (due to a bad battery.)

assumes a good battery:
running: 14.2-14.6
off.. 12.0-12.4 (remove surface charge: key off, headlights and interiors on for 60 seconds)

Ray

Ray thanks for the reply

(Here's my thinking:

Swap batteries from my car to his
1. If MY batt in his car is fine, batt is fine, probably my alt.
2. If MY batt in his car is crap still, could be either my batt or alt, but probably which one?

3. If HIS batt in my car is crap volt readings, its my alt.
4. If HIS batt in my car is fine, probably my battery.

Does this seem like a logical process, comments suggestions? )

I left it charging all night (8 hours) and checked it before I left, it was at 13.8. 1 minute later, 13.5. I dont' know if its normal to lose some volts after being charged. I'll check the voltage again in 11 hours or so. IF the volts are back down to 11.5, definite alt?

I'll do that process I described earlier, should find out the problem by tonight. Thanks a lot for everyone's replies, keep em coming.

Normal battery behavior is to show a higher than normal voltage reading after charging until the "surface charge" is bled off. Turn your headlights on for a minute, then measure the voltage at the battery (headlights still on). You should then see 12.6 +/- .2 or .3 volts.

A defective battery with a shorted cell will not allow the charging voltage of 13.8 to 14.4 volts to be measured. It would measure about 1.6 volts lower than expected for each shorted cell.

Just went through this thhis week. Battery with a shorted cell combined with an alternator failure. Spent all day yesterday replacing the alternator on my back on a gravel driveway. No fun..

Your alternator is toast, just quit dicking around and replace it.

Steve

Sho89:

Glad to see your convicted its the alt, today should see that everyone else is as well. As far as the battery, reading my previous post on switching from one car to another, will that accurately to show a bad alt.

Best way to determine bad batt?

I think I'll just buy another battery, don't really want to risk killing a new alt.

Best batt and alt for contour, place to get?

Swiched batt's with my friend who has 1 year old motorcraft battery. His batt in my car was lower than in his with both full load and idle, off. I understand I should keep it in for a week and drive to see better defined results
- But, I put MY battery in his car and volage was normal, saw 14 for the first time.

I convinced its my alt. I will bring both alt and batt to murrays to get tested.

Thanks for the help everyone, let me know if u don't think its alt.

Where should I get a new alt with lifetime warranty for good price?

Originally posted by dstock:

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Where should I get a new alt with lifetime warranty for good price?

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AUTOZONE!!!

If there isn't one close to you, I saw on their website they are offering free shipping right now on anything over $50....