Alternator woes
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Senior User
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 201
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From: Schaumburg, IL
Alternator woes
You guys have helped with with problems I've had with my '97 E150 van - can you give me a hand with my other Ford? It's my wife's 94 T-Bird. The thing goes through alternators like crazy. The first one went out at 20,000 miles. The dealer towed it in and replaced it. At 40,000 it went out again. I called the dealer, they said, "sounds like you got a couple of bad alternators." "So you'll replace it?", I said. "Your warranty ended 4,000 miles ago." So I went to Pep Boys and bought a rebuilt. Lasted until 60,000, then died. Noticing a trend here? Yep, at 80,000 miles I warned my wife not to drive the car too far. 4 days later it went out again. The car just hit the 100,000 mile mark. The alts have a lifetime warranty, so it doesn't cost me anything to replace them. I've gotten to where I can do the job in 20 minutes. But still, these things are supposed to last longer than 20,000 miles. The electrical system was checked out by the dealer at 20,000, and by an independent mechanic when I had it in for another problem at around 50,000, and no problems were found. I have noticed that the needle on the battery gauge rocks back and forth when I use the turn signals, and goes crazy when the traction assist kicks in. Any ideas?
Tuned
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 276
Likes: 0
From: Texas
Alternator woes
Don't think I'm much help, but my old 89' went through em like crazy too, almost as frequently as your van. Turns out it was the alternator wiring harness, we didn't know it had to replaced (supposedly) everytime you replaced the altenator. I don't know how true that is, but we cut the bad plug off the end and spliced on a new one, we never replaced another altenator after that. I think I should also mention that we didn't purchase a rebuilt unit, we took our old one to a shop and had them rebuild it.
Senior User
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 223
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From: Long Island
Alternator woes
"I have noticed that the needle on the battery gauge rocks back and forth when I use the turn signals, and goes crazy when the traction assist kicks in. Any ideas?
The T-Bird's got a short somewhere. They can be a bi#ch to track down. But you seem to be on the right track from your quote above.
To find a short(that is draining your system) the best way is to use a mullti-tester (volt,ohm, ammeter)
Disconnect the NEG battery clamp and connect the ammeter between the Neg (ground) wire and the NEG post of the battery. Make sure you disconnect any "normal electrical draws" (dome light, under hood light and alarm system) The amp draw should be close to zero (except for your clock etc)
If the draw is over, say .5 amps, start pulling fuses until it drops. If you see it drop after pulling a particular fuse, you know that is the circuit with the short.
Try that and re-post. Maybe we'll be able to help you further.
Good Luck,
Bill
The T-Bird's got a short somewhere. They can be a bi#ch to track down. But you seem to be on the right track from your quote above.
To find a short(that is draining your system) the best way is to use a mullti-tester (volt,ohm, ammeter)
Disconnect the NEG battery clamp and connect the ammeter between the Neg (ground) wire and the NEG post of the battery. Make sure you disconnect any "normal electrical draws" (dome light, under hood light and alarm system) The amp draw should be close to zero (except for your clock etc)
If the draw is over, say .5 amps, start pulling fuses until it drops. If you see it drop after pulling a particular fuse, you know that is the circuit with the short.
Try that and re-post. Maybe we'll be able to help you further.
Good Luck,
Bill
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