but everything is ok....

Oil level is right....
Colant is ok.....
Hatch is down....
Not over heating....
Battery is charging...
etc....

My clock also seems to be gaining and losing power. Sometimes it's on sometimes it's off.

What could cause this? I'm thinking it's just some electrical/wireing issue...

Any suggestion would be geatly appreciated...

Thanks

 

congrats your alternator just died.

 

How are you sure it's his Alternator?

Also, the clocks on 2nd gens rarely ever work. They'll flicker on and off, you'll just need to get a aftermarket clock lol

 

On a 86-88, there is a relay in the CPU. That relay makes the idiot lights come on when the key is to On. The relay relaxes if the engine is started and the altenator puts out and then the idiot lights go out. If the alternator does not come on line, the relay stays engergized and the lights stay on, alllllllllllll the time. Until the alternator gets fixed. That's barring there being a wiring problem b/t the alternator and the CPU's relay.

So, go start the car and see if the alternator is putting out. Either look at your volt gauge or get a meter and put it on the output wire on the alternator.

EDIT: I stopped reading after your blue smiley. OOps. You say it's charging???? Got me then. The relay in the CPU musta gone **** up, or??????? Pull the plug off the CPU and see if the idiot lights go out. If they go out and come back on when the plug is put back on....then the relay in the CPU might be stuck/broken/locked in the pulled in position.......or your wrong about the charging system still charging.

 

I fixed the clock in 15 minutes with some solder and my soldering iron. Total cost ~50 cents of solder.

 

yeah, typical alternator symptom. As to the clock, it's probably cold solder joints. I believe there's a "How-To" at Teamfc3s.com, look in tech articles

 

well I think I'm wrong about the battery charging...I just put in a new alternator five mins ago...so I guess I'll take it from there..

Thanks again for the advice


Oh yeah can anyone tell me what could cause the alternator to go bad?

 

help more info would be nice....

bump ?

 

Why do you think the battery is charging???

What is the volt meter reading while the lights are all on???

Anything less than 13.5 volts and the battery is not charging and the Alt is bad.

13.5 volts+ and the alt is fine, but the relay in the CPU has failed or there are cold solder joints in the CPU or idiotlight/warning/clock panel

 

Hey man I told you to have it tested. Did you take it to schucks? what was the result?

 

I'm taking it in today. I just wanted more opinions on what would cause the alternator to crap out.

From what I read the S4 alternator is crap...But I just can't believe that ALL S4 alternators are crap. If the car is just stock there should be someother reason for the alternator to bad, like what Icemark said. Also if the S4 alternators are bad then shouldn't the S1 - S3 alternators be bad as well or is it Mazdas great engieering design that only the S4 alternators are crap?

Well thanks again for the replies

 

People only say the S4 alts are bad, when comparing them to S5 alts or S6 alts with their increased output.

The S4 alt is just as good as any other, if you don't need the extra output.

Now often non-Mazda/non- Mitsubishi rebuilds are crappy.