My car eats alternators? Help!

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:46 am

Previous owner (Josh Fatburger) replaced ALT at 125572 and I replaced the same ALT at 128226. Now she is giving me the dash lights (Batt/ABS/Break) intermittenly about half the time. Blue chip local independent, Smart Service, says Alternator isn't charging when this is occuring and WILL replace under warantee even though Alternator tests out fine and the tech has gone over all the typical connections as culperit. Any chance this is a grounding problem (which they say looks fine)?? Or something else? Any other problem that could be taking these down? Thanks in advance for any insight and wisdom...Adam

P.S. Car is running fine through all of this. Gas mileage might be a bit off but can't tell if that's just my driving.

tonflo · Post by **tonflo** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:20 am

Has the alternator been load tested? Does battery stay charged, especially in cold weather? This may or may not help, but I had a Scorpio that the diode went bad in the alternator. Allowed current to run backwards & drained battery whe parked. Very bad in cold weather. Maybe something like that is happening to you. Maybe it's a bad cell in the battery and won't take a full charge.

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:02 am

Yeah, when the battery refuses a charge, the alternator gets cooked.

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 6:20 am

The alternator tests out as does the battery although the battery is just hitting the lower end of the range of months for replacment.

Should I have a battery standing by incase they suggest that as a fix? They seem to be content to just spend the shop time to replace it but I'm thinking it could be something else. They definitly won't be so understanding if it keeps happening...

Also, Tonflo if a Scorpio is a kind of battery please let me know and I'll better understand your comment.

Anyone else to weight in on these gremlins? Can I definitively rule out grounding issues?

Tanks in advance, Adam

Manarius · Post by **Manarius** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:37 pm

Adam West wrote:Anyone else to weight in on these gremlins? Can I definitively rule out grounding issues?

Tanks in advance, Adam

Always make sure your terminals are clean and your wires are in good shape. The alternators don't usually just go bad...most of us complain when they only go 200k miles...

tonflo · Post by **tonflo** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:33 pm

Scorpio is a Merkur (car- Ford of Germany). You still haven't said if they load tested it or just checked volts output. What about amps? the load tester will help to see if alternator can maintain a charge under load. Hooks up to battery, I think, has a big dial to turn and a needle display. Turn dial to increase load. Has a big carbon pile of some sort inside to increase resistance or something. Look inside the battery cells too, maybe the plates are all caked up.

professor · Post by **professor** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:14 pm

If a battery can't "take" a charge, the charge should be dumped to ground. That's what alternators do. It should not burn the alternator.

I agree, though, that it can be frustrating to diagnose a charging system when both components may be suspect. Even the Auto-zone testers are crap especially in the hands of a counter monkey. Swap in a known, good battery and you'll be better off.

You are likely the victim of crappy alternators. I cannot tell you how many people see premature failures of rebuild or crap far-east alternators. Often the original will last 150,000 miles then two or three replacements will last months at best.

The best bet is to choke up the cash for an OEM alternator, or if too expensive, get the one with a lifetime warranty and save the reciepts, cuz you'll need them.

tonflo · Post by **tonflo** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:16 pm

What about a good starter/alternator rebuild shop?

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 9:53 pm

Thanks! I spoke with Smart Service today (www.smart-service.com) and they're going to look at it happening and trouble shoot again. OF COURSE it wouldn't do it for them when I last brought it in.

They said they load tested both the Alternator and the Battery at the time and they checked out. But they didn't load test the Alternator separately.

They doubted the battery was caked up but they didn't check and I will. Not having any problem cranking though so not focusing on the battery.

As far as OEM vs. Rebuild. Says even from Subaru OEM for our cars they have a rebuilt core. AND even on brand new cars there are remanufactured Alternator cores. Seems strange. Can the experts here explain?

OEM is 100 bucks more because they don't take your core tho.

The alternator they used is from PPR out of California

The lifetime waranteed alternators are actually usually of worse quality (according to the Smart person) for example from Shucks which is why they give you a lifetime guarantee since they are more likely to fail...

But then you have to rely on Shucks testing of them that according to Smart is not as accurate. And then you'b be stuck dealing with them Getto-style. This independent shop won't do a labor warantee on these types lifetime warantee of ALTs but they will do labor replacement for the PPR brand...

I'll let you know more how it goes when I make an appointment after the holidays!

Thanks again!!!

Adam

Post by **Legacy777** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:35 am

To truly test the alternator & battery, they need to be removed from the vehicle and tested separately.

professor · Post by **professor** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:56 pm

who cares about labor, I replaced my alternator in under 10 minutes

Adam West · Post by **Adam West** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:11 am

Skills, mad skills...More power to you bro.

Adam

Bheinen74 · Post by **Bheinen74** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 3:15 am

have them check your battery when it isnt even in the vehicle.

Has anybody else on here had a bad battery like me? It smelled like rotten eggs.

seattlelegacy · Post by **seattlelegacy** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:38 pm

I replaced the alternator on our 85 GL with a "lifetime Schucks" alternator. What a peice of shit. It failed within months. So, I took the alternator back to Sucks, and they said it was fine. Then I took it to Smart (they share a parking lot with Sucks) and they said it was bad. Sucks says its good, Smart says its bad. Hmmmm.... do I trust Smart or the 12 y/o from Sucks? I just gave up, had Smart replace the alternator and they used the "new" one from Sucks as the core. Its worked fine for a couple years now. In the end, a 200.00 job from smart cost me 300.00 because I let Sucks get involved. I hate Sucks, and have vowed NEVER EVER to shop there again.

The alternators in the GL are a snap to replace. It really is a 10 minute job.

edrach · Post by **edrach** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:46 am

I once lost two alternators in a row within a week until I discovered that the battery had an intermittant internal OPEN circuit. Battery tested good on the bench, but occasionally had an internal OPEN which took out the alternator. You can do the same by disconnecting your battery with the engine running. Anyway, I don't trust any of the rebuilt alternators from Schucks or any other aftermarket place. If you really want someone who knows, check out Greg's Marine Electric in Ballard (he's on 14th NW just a few blocks south of Market. Don't go during boating season since he's swamped with work then, but he's a bit slow during the off-season. He does excellent work; not the cheapest, but excellent.

Chef · Post by **Chef** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:22 am

"Has anybody else on here had a bad battery like me? It smelled like rotten eggs."

Yup. But the problem is that the battery goes bad because the alternator cooks it - too much voltage equals a rotten egg battery. Had it happen to me, replaced the battey, same thing start to happen again.

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My car eats alternators? Help!

My car eats alternators? Help!

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