Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches Capitol CEG begining to not like my car anymore

Driving around today battery lite started to flash for a couple seconds every now and then....went to get soda, car had trouble starting....guages die while driving engine starts to stutter.....alterantor is the main suspect, new batttery a few months ago, i dont beleive it would be that....now gotta get towed and see whats wrong....anybody know ballpark on how much alternator is to change i know they cost from 200-300 but they look like a huge pain to put in....adn with some crappy whether ahead it looks difficult to pull off in my driveway.

sorry about the spelling and lack of punctuation...still pissed.

haven't driven my car in over a month b/c a brake line that ford doesn't make and no one carries broke and i can't find it at any junkyards. i feel your pain

Sleeper-

Yeah, it's not the easiest alternator I've ever changed... I'm on my second, and it's starting to dim every time I'm below 1000 or above 5000. I expect to start seeing the battery light any day.

Call Advance or Autozone for their remanufactured ones- I think it'll run you between $100-$160, IIRC. The install's a pain, but it can be done.

PM if you need help.

yea dude, its the alternator! sorry to say. that was the same exact problems with mine, dont ignore it, it will leave you stranded on the side of the road, and it will be a pain in the a$$ getting home, you have to basically jump start your car every mile depending on how much the battery will last. I did that and it took me 5 jumps from where it broke to where my house is and it is not fun at ALL.

it was the alternator...the shop that does the work for my dads company said it will be $560 including tow...so figured that was cheap and i am jsut going to let them do it. Thanks for the info.

too much juice being squeezed in the caboose(sp)

dude, thats kinda expensive! the company i went to did the labor for 250, and i ordered my own performance alternator for 300 and that is overnighted to my door. its a 200 amp alt!

Yeah, that sounds about right. My alty died on me when I was driving back from Nags Head.. The day before it happened, I thought it was the battery because I was driving and the whole car basically shut down, all the gauges went to zero, and I couldn't accelerate it just constantly was dying, so I purchased a new battery since it was 2am and nothing but a Kmart was open at Kitty Hawk and it was just about the closest place my car would limp to, and had to get back to the house 30minutes away in northern Nags Head. So, the next day driving back from nags head that new battery is constantly being drained, the battery light would come on if I drove below 30 and above 55 mph. So, as I made it all the way back to VA beach before it decided that it was ready to die.. so, to make a long story short.

$70 battery
$140 tow - $20 thanks AAA.. they paid for the first 5 miles...
$200 for the new alt
250 for the labor

$700+...

that sounds like f'in [censored]! That is way too much. Go to autozone and get a remanufactured one with the lifetime warrenty. I paid 170-180ish for mine. If it screws up any time then its a free new one. C'mon man. As far as the labor goes, that is just crazy. Granted it took me like 2 1/2 hours to get mine out for the first time but after the second one was already dead and having to install a third one (in the allotment of 24 hours) its kinda easy for me now. I can get it in and out now in like 45 minutes. Find another tow company too. Man you're just getting screwed. I'm sorta glad I'm a little mechanically inclined. I'm saving my butt a lot of money...