tykelley27

so I went to work and I left my lights on. Now I've done this on many occations... (the reason I had to replace my battery). SO I attempted to jump start my car using of course jumper cables. when I connected I waited about 5seconds and my alternator started smoking. so of course I'm assuming it's now fried. but also, with the little charge left in my battery... my interior lights won't come on... and it doesn't beep...beep when my keys are in the ignition and my doors open. is this just a fuse or what? I guess what I'm asking is... how hard will it be to simply replace my alternator..... and 2) What else could be wrong... I have it pointed at the alternator because when I have jumper cables to it the car starts just fine and runs... but as soon as I take the cables off it dies almost immediately. Any help would be awesome... thanks

dr0x

Buy a 3rd gen alt. They put out about 15 more watts than the TII alt. Always a little bonus if you have extra eletronics in the car. You have to connect the wiring harness seperately because it is a little different but its a simple process. I dont see how you fried the alt, but you did.

So replace the alt, and also check the fuses. You may have fried one or two and maybe not.

SonicRaT

iTrader: (6)

I'm willing to bet you popped the 'main' fuse (80amp or 100amp) on the drivers side strut tower, I don't have the slightest clue how the hell to get that fuse out, but that's the one I bet you blew

dr0x

If his alt was smoking its dead too. Like I said replace it and check all fuses, including the ones inside that little black box in the engine bay.

SonicRaT

iTrader: (6)

Well, I figured he'd of saw that from your post, but I was attempting to answer why his lights/beeps aren't occuring even with his battery's small charge, dead main fuse

Dane

I had a friend do this to his 91 Convertible. Turns out he inverted the + and - while jump starting it (are you sure you didn't do this?). There is little reason your alternator would "smoke" when simply hooking up jumper cables to the battery. If done correctly, the alternator would only see virtually little more load that in sees on an everyday basis...not enough to "smoke it".
In his case, he blew EVERY fuse in the car as well as messing up the alternator.
Check all fuses, particularly the "main" fuse. Once that is squared away, you probably want to look into a replacement alternator if you still are having problems. The 89-91 alternator is actually rock solid if it doesn't encounter any "user created" stress, so you may look for a used one if you can find it. Chances are, however, used 89-91 alternators are rare at best.

dr0x

If he put the wrong cable connectors on the wrong post it should have blown the alt on both cars, and possibly the batteries (that wouldve been messy).

Replace the fuses, make sure the batt is still good. If it doesnt want to start push start the car. When the engine starts to turn over the alt will kick out power and cause everything to turn on. If its dead, it wont. Or you could remove it and take it to get it tested.

Ryde _Or_Die

Did the actual alternator smoke or the plug/wires in the back of it? I've seen them smoke when the wires were touching metal, but not the actual alternator. This is easy though. Check all the fuses to see if any are blown. Take the alternator & battery down to the local parts store and have them check it(free everywhere I have ever heard of). Buy all the fuses you need along with a new batter and alternator if needed.

tykelley27

Hey thanks.. I try changing the fuses... Do you think if I change the fuses it'll still work? (my car that is?) is it possible to push start my car the way it is?

any have an alternator to donate to the
"TyKelley27 needs and alternator foundation"

SonicRaT

iTrader: (6)

It should, it happened to my car and it only popped the 'main' fuse. Replace that and go from there, though I'm willing to bet that alternator isn't happy (might still be usable though)

tykelley27

ok so my alternator is also bad... how do I replace it with another one? Is it that difficult? Can I do it in the parking lot my cars in? THanks

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Replacing your alternator is incredebly easy... Couple of mounting bolts, some bolts in the back, and one little connector. Should not take you longer then one hour. Can be done in a paking lot.

Rat

Ryde _Or_Die

Can be done in a parking lot? I think thats where I've done all of mine

tykelley27

ok... This is really messed up... So, just to test things out, to see if I could get it to work I checked all the fuses... ALL GOOD!?!?!? (except the inline fuse that goes to my amp)...

Anyways... I figured out I had to have crossed the wires when I jumped my car that night. So I had my buddy jump it and it started up fine... but when I put the throttle down it hesitated in a little bit of a sputter (not enough power the ignition coils, I'm assuming. But the real kicker is that none of the gauges were responding...??? any Ideas? I figure worse comes to worse I'll just put the alternator in and go from there since I no my battery hold a charge cause I charged it for a bit with the jump cables and then It stayed on for like 2 minutes (about as long as I charged it..., which definately points to the alternator...)

Any Help would be so apreciated

HAILERS

I'd go back and take another look at the fuses in the cabin. Third row from the bottom, third fuse from the left as you look into the fuse box.

See this post for a picture. The fuse is called METER. Who'd a thought. https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...se+and+diagram

tykelley27

hey Thanks I'll look at that... Cause I was loking at the wiring diagram last night and I saw a 7.5A fuse between my gauges and my ignition but I didn't get the part scanned to post the pic...

Thanks I'll try it