Alternator Q...pretty soon I'm going to need my own forum category!
 

Hello everyone...again :o

I picked up my black SVX this week, and am trying to get it running well. I checked all fluids etc, and noticed something when I first started the car.

The alternator gets hot before the engine does, and it seems to be making a little noise. Is the alternator in our cars just like that, or is the bearing inside going bad? What might happen if it seizes up :confused:

If it's bad...anyone got one? :cool:

If it siezes, it will break the serpentine belt. No biggie, just replace the belt. Alternator will likely get hot before engine, as it's smaller and has less area to disipate heat over. If the bearing is shot, replace the pulley, not the alternator. If the alternator itself is shot, it can be replaced without to much hassle.

If it seizes up, it is bad. I don't think they will do that though. I could be wrong though. :)

ok,
 

What's this "pulley", and is there a part number? ...does it contain a bearing then? Sorry guys, not very knowledgable on this stuff :rolleyes:

I was going to drive it to my mom's this weekend (couple hours) and I'm just not sure what to do. I don't want to be on the side of the road...considering parts *always* need to be ordered in etc it seems :p

If the alternator siezes, and the belt snaps, you lose the alternator, power steering, air conditioning, and i think that's it. The alternator goes, you can still drive(with difficulty, due lack of power steering) until the battery goes out, because the battery will be what powers the electrical system in the car without the alternator.

It will not distroy your engine, though. Even if it somehow managed to throw off the timing belt, which WOULD stop your car from running, they're non-interference engines, so you would not have pistons hitting valves.

What is the sound like? is it the belt rubbing by chance? Turn off all electrical devices in the car, witht he engine running, pop the hood, and see if you hear anything then. If it's the belt just slipping(possibly due to stretching and such) there's a spray you can use on it to stop that, temporarily at least. If the alternator is providing additional resistance, it could cause the belt to slip. That could be a sign of the alternator going. My experience in the past, though, is the alternator simply stops working, but still spins. You can have a shop test your alternator for free most likely, call around. There are shops that specifically rebuild alternators as well, so you can get a rebuilt for around 180$+core. Replacing it is easy, 2 bolts to the engine, 2 wires, and it comes off, just release the tension pulley that's keeping the belt tight. Take off the alternator, get a new one, and replace. Just get yours tested first, don't want to do anything unnecessary.

The pulley on the end of the alternator is what their talking about. If the belt snaps you'll only lose p/s and the alt, the air conditioner is on a different belt. You could try to adjust the alternator belt to see if you can get the noise to stop.



Dustin

How hot is the question?

If it is a bearing problem, it will be a bearing within the alternator. It is unlikely to seize but if does, as mentioned above it is not a huge disaster.

Listen using a piece of tubing as a stethoscope, as a means of identifying the exact source of the noise. You could remove the alternator, not difficult, and spin it by hand to check for a rough bearing.

Take heart, this is not a big issue and does not mean that you have made a bad buy. ;)

You'll loose nothing that you can't in theory drive it BUT on a good battery when my alternator went I made it less than 10 miles in stop and go traffic until it went no futher. I even turned off the radio and air. You won't be making it home. A starter and alternator shop will rebuild it with good parts not crappy stuff like you'd get from a parts store. Price will be around 100-150 for a full rebuild. Not much less for simply replacing parts.

I dont' know how it will respond if it goes on an svx, i had a probe gt that it died on. I simply charged it every night over-night, and drove it 10mi to work and 10mi home, and iwould recharge it. Did that for about 2 weeks before i killed the battery. Depends on the battery's amp hours as well.

N.B. The original post in no way states that the alternator is not charging. A noisy bearing would in no way affect the alternators ability to operate electrically as normal. ;)

Yea, it
 

seems to be charging ok, just didn't want to be stuck on the interstate if it went lol. It's pretty hot, but I'm really not an expert :p and don't have a clue. I think I'll go with taking it off to bring in for testing at Advance tonight...

They can test it while it's in the car...

Don't know the amp hour but it wasn't a crap batter 875 cold crank amps! I've driven my F-250 3 hours with a bad alt and it does have the electric tranny too!

I'd take it to a local alt shop and have them bench test and look at the bearing. Most places won't warranty it unless it is a full rebuild which isn't much more than replacing parts.