Hey people.

I have a 1989 FC3S turbo with a bit of a problem. When i start my car the lights on the dash stay on until a rev the engine a bit. Also if i have my headlights on there is a high pitched sound that comes from the bonnet when i am accelrating. I figured it was the alternator and the other day i found out i was right the hard way. While i was driving the squelling sound was getting worse than ever before so i chose to ignore it (how stupid does that sound) then all of a sudden my in dash light come on and i get a smell of burning rubber. Luckily i was close to home so i pulled up to my driveway and pop the hood and deep inside i find a burnt rubber strip and there is nothing connecting the alternaot to the engine.

i know the above story seems long but i wanted everyone to see how well i handled my problem (i am being really sarcastic). Anyway, the question i wanted to ask was can i replace my screwed up alternator with any all alternator from any car or have the manufactureres of this beautiful car made even its alternator unique.

has anyone else had similiar problems?

thanks in advance for any info, this ignorant owner needs all he can get.

cheers

 

u can use an internal regulated 1 wire alternator and not hook up the regulator plug

or you could just pick bolt up any fc alternator and use that

 

sorry, bit new to the alternator thing.

what is a one-wire alternator and what is a regulator plug.

Also, would i have any disadvantage if i installed a non-rx7 alternator (cause spare parts for a rx7 cost alot and are hard to come by).

thanks for the prompt post!

 

Why don't you just get a new belt, put it on, tighten it, and see if your voltage readings are up to spec. Then determine whether or not you need a new alternator...

A good alternator will put out 14.6v at 2000 RPM. And you should have around 13v at idle...

 

yeah thought about that. the thing is, should the alternator be that hard to turn that the belt gets fried just by the extra load of headlights. the fact that the friction between the belt and the alternator was so much that the belt broke makes me feel that something must be wrong with the alternator. is this a warranted thought? do other FC's have really tight alternators? and how does the voltage show that the alternator is workig properly?

Thanks for the input though, i will ckeck the voltage!

 

Does the alternator pulley turn freely without the belt attached? If not, the bushing in it is seized and you will need to have it rebuilt or replaced. If the pulley turns freely, replace the belt and test the alternator.

 

^Werd. Check to see if the pulley on the alternator is seized. Mine is not, and the belt did break one night...I was also blasting through all the gears, but the belt was probably old, as well. If the pulley isn't seized, I'd just spend less money on a belt, and spend time checking to see if the alt is good. Would you rather buy a new alternator (~$100?) Or a $30 belt.

I think it's an easy choice.

Good luck,
James

 

thanks for all the info guys. i'll try replacing the belt and see how it goes.