Re: headlights cut out after battery jump; engine breaks up

I wonder if my cleaning the engine at the self-serve car wash caused this problem?

It does have the original alternator, and it has 180,000 miles, so I guess it was just a matter of time. A rebuilt alternator from parts stores cost between 130 and 180 dollars , and with labor and the markup a shop puts on parts, I'd guess this is at least a 300 plus dollar job.

What if I got a used alternator from a reputable salvage yard and put that in myself? I've swapped out alternators in my younger days, and looking at the engine compartment, it looks like I may be able to remove the alternator without having to remove anything else (though it appears to sit below a compressor).

In my opinion, I would go with a new one... then you probably won't have to worry about replacing that again....if yo put one in from a salvage shop, sure they are cheaper, but you are taking a chance that they came off a car with similar mileage. I think its worth the few extra bucks to go with new here..... Don't forget to disconnect the battery when doing the repair yourself....

good Luck..

Fwed

All cars run on used parts.

Did you hit it with the full high-pressure spray? If so, you could easily have blown a connector right off the alternator, or forced water into one of the multi-pin connectors at the PCM. Check for loose (dangling) wires near the alternator, and reconnect them if necessary.

A junkyard alternator is a good low-buck choice. Or you could take your alternator to an alternator/starter shop and have them rebuild it. Most likely, the only thing wrong with it would be worn-out brushes no longer making contact with the slip-rings.

Thanks, everyone, for all the feedback. My mechanical skills are limited, as you can plainly see, but you talked me through this.

I went to a U PULL IT salvage yard today, and karma was smiling upon me. It's a large yard. Right when you walk in, they have a few new arrivals. And of the five new arrivals was a shining, well cared for, Spirit with a

2.5 L engine. (It got rear ended , as the trunk was pushed flush with the back seat.). So the front end looked good. For 25 bucks, I pulled the alternator, wiring harness that goes from negative on the battery to the alternator, and pulled the coil just to have a spare. I swapped them in the alternator and wiring harness, and viola, the voltmeter in the dash now reads about 16 volts right at startup. It looks like that was the fix.

Thanks again, everyone, you were a great help, especially you Daniel Stern, for talking me through the codes and stuff.

H>

I guess we are on the same page as far as everything is concerned, with the exception of remanufactured..... I always thought remanufactured was something that was brought back to factory specs......looks like i ve been misled all these years........ what exactly is remanufactured??

Fwed

Not only boil the battery but will blow a ton of fuses on anything that gets powered on, radio etc. If this is an alternator with the regulator built in, then its bad. You should put a good voltmeter across the battery with the car running to be sure.

I've actually been known to do that... (at least peer inside parts store stuff very critically, that is - not toss the car, AFAIK every car I've ever owned is still on the road today.)

nate

It is unlikely that a voltage 10-15% too high will blow many fuses. Most circuits are designed such that the normal load provides a decent cushion below the capacity of the fuse. The only fuses that would blow would be those that are already loaded to 90% of their capacity and this typically isn't the case. Most fuses have a tolerance of +/- 5% so you'd risk the occasional blown fuse even with normal voltage if you designed a circuit where the normal load drew very close to the capacity of the fuse.

Matt

That depends what you believe. If you believe the glossy box at the parts store, it's "Brought back to better than factory specifications with lots of new parts!"

If you dig a little deeper and/or have scrutinized the industry at all, it's "Thrown together in massive vats, abusively cleaned, crudely thrown together by semi-skilled drones using mixed hardparts from numerous original units and low-bid, poor-quality bearings, brushes, coils and other consumables from China, grossly overconsolidated so that 25 different original units are sold under one part number, spraypainted, and placed in a glossy box with a fancy piece of paper that says 'LIFETIME WARRANTY', which means you get to spend your lifetime replacing abused parts under warranty."

The latest wrinkle is the "100% New!" units being sold at the likes of Pep Boys and Autozone. Sure, they're 100% new...what they don't tell you is they're 100% new counterfeit copycat pieces of shit from (class? Anyone?) China.

DS

That's where it pays to find a remanufacturer who thinks it means that they replace all the parts subject to wear and tear, then test and warrant the unit.

I agree about the battery, I just don't believe the "blow a ton of fuses" comment.

Matt