HELP! Alternator failure after engine cleaning.

you washed all the electrons out, need to go get it refilled. Alternators have a certain amount of electrons installed, and when you washed it, you must have washed too many of them out. You might look on the ground and see if you can find them, but if you do, they are very hard to get back into the alternator, kind of like putting the smoke back into a wire. Matt Gunsch, A&P,IA,Private Pilot Riding member of the 2003 world champion drill team Arizona Precision Motorcycle Drill Team GWRRA,NRA,GOA

That reminds me, I have accidentally let the smoke out of my power mirror switch. Not wanting to suffer the cost of a new switch, I figure I can just get some new smoke. To that end, I went to a place called "smoke-shop" hoping they could help. It was very smoky in the store, but they said that they didn't carry the right type of smoke. I tried a few more places like "Discount Smoke", "Smoke House"- no luck. One place was full of meat! I got the number of a guy who I was told "has the best smoke in town." So, I'm going to meet him at a 7-11 tonight. For $20 he said I can get some great smoke!

Once I get the smoke, how do I get it in the switch?

I wonder if that guy you are meeting at the 7-11 meant dope :-D ... btw, did u manage to get it fixed ??

See, that is the problem, the wire manufactures have a special machine that puts the smoke in the wire. The machine is soo secret that no photographs or drawings exsist, the knowedge is past down to each generation of wire makers, and those that devulge the secret are under penility of death and a curse placed to make the rest of your family, and all generations till eternity,

liberal democrates.................

I guess that explains a couple of things :)~ Matt Gunsch, A&P,IA,Private Pilot Riding member of the 2003 world champion drill team Arizona Precision Motorcycle Drill Team GWRRA,NRA,GOA

Short it directly to ground then the smoke will come out for sure. Believe me there's lots of smoke still left in the wires. StuK

Try pulling all the connectors out and spraying the alternator with a high pressure air hose to blow any water out. Leave the hood up innthe sun to let it dry out well. It would be a good time to clean all the contacts in the connectors too. When all is dry put some white grease on the plugs and install them. See if your light is on. If it is you may have damaged the alternator or regulator. However if a little wash kills it then it was probably bad anyway. StuK

Thanks N329DF and Stuck, yesterday I took the alternator out and cleaned with some alcohol the parts that the water might have gotten in. Today is sunbathing (I live in Fl) so it is almost melting and the hood is up.

I don't want to replace it with a genetic one bought at a local auto-parts store since it seems to be a genuine Motorcraft one. I will reinstall it later and see if it is still alive.

Sorry for the identity crisis, I posted a reply from another program my brother uses to read the news.

Then don't. If you have to replace it goto a junkyard and find one of the newer ones. My alternator on the 89 was checked over and over and with the A/C and headlights on at a light the gaudge read about 9 volts. That was before Underdrive pulleys. I went and got a new one off of a 95 or 06 V6 and though it still reads low at times It's not as bad as it was. My next job will be to replace the main output wire with a silicone coated 8ga wire and gold plated serious quality solderless connectors. Oh a good battery helps. I have a Stinger battery. When it sits for a while it will go down, but as a daily driver the addition of this battery made a huge difference. When this one finally dies I will probably get a Dyna-Batt and it's skinny little holder.

Pepito wrote in news:2004071108533416807%josephamadeusNSPAM@mindspringcom:

cleaned

Yes. Make sure you drink plenty of it.

Joe Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

ha ha he said penility! StuK

What a dork! Everyone knows it's spelled "penitality".

Uh, oh. As with most electrical devices, it probably won't work quite the same once you let the smoke out. I know from experience that this applies to TVs and computers...

(In a computer hardware class several years ago, we had some old motherboards that were used to demonstrate why it isn't a good idea to reverse those old AT power connectors. We let out quite a bit of smoke, and sure enough, it wouldn't boot. How odd.) :)

Thanks W, I ended up buying a refurbished Motorcraft from a local Auto Zone, not without testing the one I had at the same store, it was gone. I got a pretty decent looking one with new plugs and life time warranted for about 100 bucks including tax.

Now I'm thinking about getting a decent battery, I have the same problem you mentioned...

"My alternator on the 89 was checked over and over and with the A/C and headlights on at a light the gaudge read about 9 volts."