WTF! Smoking Alternator!
 

Ohhhh k...so here's the scoop. Pretty much since I've bought this FC in November, the alternator has sounded like it had a 'struggling' bearing. So finally last thursday, the noise became more and more vicious on my way to a buddy's place (I had only had the car running for about 15 minutes prior to the sudden increase in noise/vibration). I could also feel an abnormal vibration through the shifter, which has never happened before. So anyways, I pull over, pop my hood and WTF! The noise seems to be coming from the alternator, along with smoke and a nice burning electrical scent :shocking: So I figured ok, well my alternator is screwed, no problem I'll just get another one. So my buddy gets his car, and we hook it up to mine in an attempt to boost. I try cranking my car and it cranks slower and slower each time (with his booster cables hooked up) until eventually it does not crank at all. So I get another friend to tow me home behind his truck. Then yesterday, I picked up an alternator, and installed it. I figured my battery would be dead, so I put it on the charger for an hour or so. When I first put it on, the charger said that it was making 6 volts, and after an hour of charging it showed even less. So I thought maybe my charger was being shitty, and I hooked booster cables up to my dad's truck and let it run to charge my battery for a good 15 minutes or so. So I tried cranking it again...still nothing. My interior lights and everything seem to come on just fine, and don't flicker at all when i try to crank the car. I checked all of the fuses (engine bay and kick panel) and none are blown. Anybody have any idea what the problem could be? A bad starter maybe? I just replaced the ignition switch not long ago, so I highly doubt that's the problem. Thanx in advance guys.

Cam

sounds like there is a drain on the battery.....throw in a new battery and check its voltage with a multi meter, if its below 12.5 volts with NOTHING on.......you have a drain somewhere......

and are you sure the charger said 6 volts....not 6amps??

BTW, is this an S4?

This is an 86 Base model (S4), and I just replaced the battery with a new one my buddy had in his garage for his FC. I put it in, and theres no difference from before with my old battery. With the charger on it, it shows 6 Amps. So what do you think it could be? My starter?

what kind of charger are you using, a small trickle charger? it may only go to 6 amps....

check the battery with a multimeter with the key off, see what voltage you get.
check the battery with a multimeter with the key on, see what voltage you get.
watch the multimeter while someone turns the key to start, see what voltage you get...

I might think though that your alternator has just burned up severely....

Did it crank over with the new battery?
do the terminals get hot when you crank it over?or when the key is on?

Update: Good news! A couple friends came over and helped me push start my car and voila, she runs like a charm! The new alternator works great! Which means that my starter must be 'douched.'

Another update!: Replaced the starter, now she starts right up, and runs like a champ with the new alternator! No more 3600-4K Hesitation!

well you just overheated and burned out the starter with all that cranking, also, your old alt probably had dirty connections which may have contributed to the hesitation, but i would still redo all your grounds if you want to permanently fix the problem