Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting What is killing my alternators?

Well I've had my car for almost 2 years and I've gone through too many of them. Right after I first bought the car, I had one go out and had the dealer replace it. Almost a year later, that one went out as well and had a local shop replace it. Now up to almost 8 months later that one takes a dive. The problem, I was getting a battery light at 5k RPM and my volts were dropping. So I decided to take the alternator out and have it checked, the results came back FAIL. So I thought great, picked up a new one and put it in myself... But I was still getting a battery light but past 6k RPM which I didnt think to much of. So barely even 2 weeks after I put the new alternator in, I'm having problems. I was cruising around at a local spot and noticed that my battery light had come on and was staying on constant. I looked at my volt gauge to discover that my car was running at 12 volts!!!!!!! I have no other noticable problems for 12 volts and a battery light. My car has been sitting in the garage all weekend untouched because I do not know where to start. I could use some help on this one guys...

Check the belt tension. My dad was always a stickler for belt tension. Either too tight or too loose can cause problems.

Also, check some of the grounds. The alternator could be working really hard to give you the power the car needs.

got to remember that often a remanufactured unit can be no good, many have reported issues with remanufactured alternators failing with in a year ... might need to try an OEM alternator.


on the other hand we have had good luck with junk yard alternators, might be worth a shot and they go for about $50

Well, you don't want it too tight. With tensioners, this can be less of an issue. I am just parroting one of the key things I was taught about alternators as a younger lad.

As for the grounds, I meant in gerneral terms. Believe me, if I had a map of all of the grounding points in the Contour, I would have posted it aeons ago.

If you are replacing the alternators with remanufactured units, that could be your problem. IIRC, that issue has popped up a lot on the boards.

How do I go about diagnosing the tension? I mean I can feel it by hand and say oh its not too loose, and oh it doesn't feel to tight. Is there a set in stone method to determine whether the tensioner is good or not.

Just to add, by visual inspection my belt looks excellent. But in between quick hard shifts it'll squeel. Also it squeels pretty bad if i'm cruising at a good 50+ MPH pace, push in the clutch, rev it up and drop the clutch.

normally belts should have about an 1/4 inch of play in them when the tension is correct

So that would mean a 1/4" down and then back to normal. And then a 1/4" up... ?