GreenySC2

as you can most likely see sadly i do not own an rx 7 while i would love to i cant afford it anyways.. a friend of mine she has a 1988 rx 7 GXL and for some reason when driving at night when you hit the brakes everything yes yes everything dims, she replaced the alternator last i heard, but its been sitting for quite some time.. and we just put a master brake cylinder on and now we have to bleed the brakes and get the beast back on the streets.. but i dont know if the alternator being replaced will rid that dimming affect.. any ideas?

t24todd

iTrader: (7)

you prob have a bad ground somewhere. since you said it has been sitting around awhile.

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

mine ... has been doing that ever since I had the car.... never had a problem... maybe yours is dimming more then mine, but it is basically because of this:

Tweaks educated guess:

At night you have your lights on, lights suck a lot of power, as does hitting the brakes...

anyways our stock s4 alternators are super low ampage, by super lower I mean .. like 60A (maybe lower dont quote me) but low. At low RPM the output is even LOWER, and when your hitting the brakes, I would guess her RPMs are going to be close to or almost at idle causing very low output from the alternator.

IF you really do want to fix the problem, install a FD alternator (1993 or higher) and this should pretty much fix the whole problem. Also you might be able to lesson the effect by making sure the battery is completly charged (low rpm, short drives can slowly drain a battery) and check and clean all your grounds.

Hope this helps.

P.S. A way to test the light/stock weak alternator problem is to, while you are stopped, have the brakes on, and the lights are dim, (make sure the clutch is in) rev the car up. (dont be scared, give it a good 5000-6000 blip) and see if your lights perk up again. If so, its just the weak stock alternator at too low of an RPM to produce good amperage.

Roarke

Interesting about my alternator.. I think its reading low anyways, just over 12v.
Any idea what kind of Amps the FD alt's put out?
I'm going to need the extra oomph! u-mf?
however you spell sounds, I need it :P

LOL
Nick

GreenySC2

i dont know i havent been in the car(at night with it running) since she replaced it but i dont think she has taken it out driving in the past few months.. it stopped starting, etc then she did the alternator and i just replaced the master brake cylinder the other day but i need to get some thin wall sockets to get her effin rims off(aftermarket) and then i can bleed and we can get it out on the street again.. but thanks for the help.. i always love forums for this reason.. saturnfans.com helps me out when i have issues with my saturn(i want a vert rx7 though..)

i think my best memory for her car was when me, the owner before her(our friend), and his friend replaced the clutch and couldnt get it started so we tried pulling it behind a truck to start it and we sorta kinda made the mufflers explode(big big big bang) sad part is she had only had the mufflers for 2 weeks? so we went and got them replaced.... but it was one hell of a bang... she beat the hell out of me because i was supposed to stop them from trying to start it.. we found out one of the ground wires that plugs in the fire wall came undone.. so we hooked it back up and poof it ran fine haha anyways its late i keep typing thanks for the help again!!!!!

ivegonemad

fd alternators are around 100amps....

ivegonemad

that one you described sounds like the tranny ground??

FC3sBoosted

not trying to sound dumb or anything, but how old is the battery? since the alt isnt pushing much at idle the battery does pick up that slack right? and is it the right amperage for the car? just another suggestion, sorry if i'm way off but i had that problem a bit ago and it turned out one of the cells in my battery was shot.

Roarke

I thought you would be a saturnfans member GreenySC2.
I've always wanted a green SC2.. lol
I got an RX7 cause it was cheaper, Saturn's are expensive around here, and I've very happy with it.
Take note that my expensive can range in your guy's cheap. I don't have much money... lol
I'm keeping my Saturn though, its fun to drive and its my DD.

And yea, I was thinking the battery should pick up the slack, so its got to be getting old, possibly dieing.

Roarke

GreenySC2

well i know we replaced the battery thingys(the things that go on the posts) and i know she replaced the battery once, but the factory alarm was having issues going off and we thing the battery got completely drained awhile back so i dont know that could be it..

In all honesty saturns are alot cheaper to drive... less gas used etc, but to go with that there arnt many aftermarket parts.. i am on my second saturn.. i used to have a 1994 Saturn SL2 but i blew it up, my current car we bought totaled, fixed it then it got t-boned, fixed it again, i blew the motor, we rebuilt that and now it runs like a dream... but this was all only possible because my dad works for cadillac and being as that is GM along with saturn parts are cheap to come by

Roarke

Yea but for a project race car, you can't beat a $500 RX7.
I got a good deal for the condition its in -mileage I suppose.
I love my Saturn, specially with my commute.
I couldn't afford something that only got 20MPG, not as a daily driver. Especially with gas prices rising.
Also a lot of used cars around here have been badly badly abused. Thankfully this one wasn't, it just sat for a while.
Sounds like your just in a better position than I :P
We all have our own ways to go. I'd offer more help, but I'm not that mechanically competent yet, just learning shortly.
Good luck though,
Roarke