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So I am going to be installing the 3rd alternator in my car since December today. I KNEW i should have never got an auto parts store alternator but I needed one in a pinch and couldn't wait for a nicer one to ship. I am now paying the price.
The alt keeps failing under the same conditions every time, dark and raining outside with all the accessories on. This last time it failed a brand new alternator belt and my air pump belt with it. Fortunately I keep spare belts in the car and had an air pump belt, so I changed it out on the side of the road in a thunderstorm just to get home. I could tell the belts got so hot they turned inside out! The alt belt snapped and my air pump belt was just hanging on the water pump nose inside out. I have never in my life seen something like that. Every time it dies it starts burning the belt, this is the first time it broke though.
I am going to buy a rewound 200 amp unit online from an alternator shop.
Here is my concern...
Is the alternator dying because of the excessive demand and THEN burning the belt due to slippage or...
Is the belt slipping because of the demand and overheating the alternator thus killing it?
I'll post pics of the belt carnage here in a bit, it's crazy!
Here is a picture of the air pump belt. I forgot that I returned the gates belt to the auto parts store under warranty. The alt belt turned inside out just like this but the pulleys ripped it to shreds and tossed it. Even if I force this belt back into regular position, it's still sideways facing...
you should take Pics of the alt mounting and the air pump mounting.
Something tells me that they are not lining up and you are eating belts due to a mis-alignment.
Well, Went to my garage yesterday to install new temporary alternator and discovered I got burglarized. Nothing was taken and the car is okay, the garage was just ransacked.
So, no progress on the car.
Styx, I wondered the same thing and took a close look and everything appears to line right up. Hopefully this afternoon I can get in there and get a pic for you anyway today after work.
Well, out to the garage now to temporarily replace the alternator. I am going to order the high amp one tomorrow when I get paid and put that one on when it gets here.
Well, got the temporary alternator on last night but my garage was a tad too dark to get a good picture of the pulleys,and the drop light made things worse.
Do you have a link to the high amp alternators? I have been looking around at them and there are lots of options, so trying to figure out the one people tend to use. I see a wack of them on ebay....
was having a similar problem, following due to the same issues....
Put a FD alternator on mine, belts get super hot, till they shrink and slip, then overheat and snap. I may have got mine resolved, check the pulley alignment.
For those asking what to buy, support Ihor @ IRP and get his rewound unit. Approximately the same as what he does for the FD. The man is always a pleasure to deal with.
For those asking what to buy, support Ihor @ IRP and get his rewound unit. Approximately the same as what he does for the FD. The man is always a pleasure to deal with.
Yeah, met him at Deals Gap. Good to know! I'd like to get an FC alternator that's rewound instead of an FD unit, which needs a little rejigging and also is a little bulkier in spots.
Yeah, met him at Deals Gap. Good to know! I'd like to get an FC alternator that's rewound instead of an FD unit, which needs a little rejigging and also is a little bulkier in spots.
I've had no problems with mine, it's been great. While it's a little expensive compared to going local or finding a generic online, he's done the legwork and has the track record. Plus I'm an advocate of supporting those who still try and support our community.
I was ultra busy at work yesterday and kept getting interrupted every time I tried to take a picture, however, I noticed something...
This new alternator, the 3rd parts store replacement I have been referring to as temporary in this thread, has a completely different stator than the last two. It the same size, but the wires are smaller and the windings are WAY more compact. I'll get a pic today for sure because it is an FC alternator case but the guts are way different than any FC alternator I have seen.
Another curious observation...
When the factory alt died, I replaced it with a slightly higher output bosch alternator that I had to order. When I got that alternator, my charge light only ever saw 8 volts because with the key on and the engine not running, there was 4 volts on the L wire thus summing the charge light voltage from 12 to 8 volts. The last 2 part store alternators I got had the same issue. When I got the bosch unit I posted a thread about it and consensus was "don't worry about it". Well, now with this new alternator my charge light illuminates properly and I have a solid 12 volts at the light.
With that being said, it raning outside and I am going to risk it for the sake of testing, driving my car to work to see how the #3 parts store alt handles it.
This sounds like divine intervention telling you to just go get a Taurus Alternator. Seriously, 130 amps for $20 at any junkyard on multiple cars that are common as dirt, just add a FD Salt retrofit pulley and simple flat brackets. 92-95 Taurus/Sable/Continental/Windstar with a 3.8L V6...
Even my DD 97 Expedition has one from the factory. Same internals, same regulator (the ONLY part I've ever seen fail in one...), just a different case to suit a Triton V8 instead of an Essex V6.
Plus 1 on that Taurus alt . One of the best upgrades to date that I've done . My haltech shows mid 13's after warm up and such . And cold start up as high as low 14's
..If you use a 3 microfarad capaitor you can alter Ben's words to say "step away from da GARAGE Mudda Fuggah..."...(hahahhahaha!)
