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  #1  
Old 01-04-2004, 12:48 PM
Bizarre Bizarre is offline
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SVX Alternator. Help me!

Hello there,

Help me if you can. Battery died last week, but I knew it was the alternator since the battery is about 1 month old.
Got new Bosch ALT from mom & pop shop after Pep Boys and Autozone told me 7 day backorders.

Put on the Bosch ALT, which worked for about 5 minutes, then I got the 5 Christmas lights: ALT, BAT, BRAKE, ABS, ETC.
Took it to Pep Boys and Autozone for testing and they told me it was most likely bad out of the box. Now I am waiting on a new one.

I hope I did not somehow fry this new one, but I do not see how that is possible. PS pulley is noisy, but turns easily. No ALT killer there. Only two connections so no chance of screw-up there.
Grounding wires are not corroded too badly. No aftermarket electronics either. Scary. Only thing I can think of is the battery was not charged enough during the jump start and that somehow overstressed Mr. Bosch Alternator. Any ideas?

When I get my new ALT I will test it at PB and AZ first; then I will know if I am the ALT killer.

If anyone has had a similar experience please let me know.
Biz
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  #2  
Old 01-04-2004, 03:51 PM
oab_au oab_au is offline
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Re: SVX Alternator. Help me!

Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
Hello there,

Help me if you can. Battery died last week, but I knew it was the alternator since the battery is about 1 month old.
Got new Bosch ALT from mom & pop shop after Pep Boys and Autozone told me 7 day backorders.

Put on the Bosch ALT, which worked for about 5 minutes, then I got the 5 Christmas lights: ALT, BAT, BRAKE, ABS, ETC.
Took it to Pep Boys and Autozone for testing and they told me it was most likely bad out of the box. Now I am waiting on a new one.

I hope I did not somehow fry this new one, but I do not see how that is possible. PS pulley is noisy, but turns easily. No ALT killer there. Only two connections so no chance of screw-up there.
Grounding wires are not corroded too badly. No aftermarket electronics either. Scary. Only thing I can think of is the battery was not charged enough during the jump start and that somehow overstressed Mr. Bosch Alternator. Any ideas?

When I get my new ALT I will test it at PB and AZ first; then I will know if I am the ALT killer.

If anyone has had a similar experience please let me know.
Biz
Biz, I think your diagnosis of a bad alternator may be wrong. " battery went flat, only 1 month old, must be alt."
It could be a lot of other things, connections through the fuse box, or earth connections. " ground connections not corroded too badly".

Harvey.
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  #3  
Old 01-05-2004, 08:45 AM
JoesSVX
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I'm sure the alternator was bad. Hard telling who's rebuilding (or building) them anymore. If it died so quickly, its good that you found out right away.
It wouldn't hurt to charge your battery some while you wait, to lessen the strain, but mostly to keep your battery from freezing (likely, when it's discharged and the acid is in the plates, leaving only water in the battery, which warps the plates). Never heard of a heavy load ruining an alternator, except over months of time. Good luck!
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  #4  
Old 01-05-2004, 10:57 AM
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Thanks for the input guys. I forgot to mention I had the first "bad" alternator checked out and it was shot. It was the factory original from 1995 with about 80000 miles on it so I think it bit the dust right on time from what I hear of the SVX and ALTS.
So I do not think present level of corrosion is a factor.

If corrosion were there I think it would have killed that old ALT right away. Just to be safe I will clean up the negative ground from the battery and charge it up too. I took the battery out and left in my cold concrete garage floor like a moron. I hear concrete can absorb electrical fields and kill batteries (d'uh). Guess I'd better charge it up.

I am going to do the wiring mod too. But only after I know I have a working ALT. No use creating more gremlins for myself.

JoesSVX, thanks for your comments. I was astonished that a BOSCH ALT would be bad out of the box, but the dudes at Pep Boys said 10% of all ALTs that are new are BOOTB. Hope they weren't B.S.ing me to defend their line of alternators. Or since you metion it maybe it is a re-built just polished up and sold as "NEW". Why would Bosch do that? I thought it was new.

If anyone else out there has a story about alternator replacement followed by the 5 Christmas lights (ALT, BAT, BRAKE, ABS, ETC), and a possible solution, I'd love to hear more.

Anywho.... thanks again.
Biz
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  #5  
Old 01-05-2004, 07:25 PM
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Just out of curiousity, what was the amperage of the new one? If it was too low (I don't even know what the SVX is supposed to have), then that's probably your problem. I replaced the alt in my XT6 with a new one from AutoZone. Took me about 2 days to basically melt the contacts and turn the copper windings a nice powdery white. Yee-ha.

Anyway, it turns out that they gave me a 75amp one (Mitsubushi no less ) that was about 50amps shy of what it needed, because it was for an XT. And considering the rarity of the SVX, it wouldn't surprise me if the mom & pop place didn't know what they were giving you, and gave you one for an Impreza or something. Just a thought.
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  #6  
Old 01-06-2004, 08:21 AM
JoesSVX
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One way to check is to ask the guy at the parts counter to check multiple catalogs and see if they all show the same [amp rating, in this case] for the specific application. Insurance for those parts that REALLY matter.
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  #7  
Old 01-06-2004, 09:06 AM
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The Bosch replacement for the SVX is only 80 Amps. If you had a dead battery, had the heat and lights on, its fried.

The SVX needs AT LEAST 100 Amps to work properly. The stock alt is 95A and as they age, they drop down to about 90A.

Doug
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  #8  
Old 01-06-2004, 10:06 AM
Bizarre Bizarre is offline
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All good points and I should have mentioned:
1. Pep Boys sells only the 95 amp alternator.
2. Autozone sells the 80 and 95 amp alternator.
(I presume 80 amp is for the older 2WD SVX without ABS).
3. Mom&Pop shop showed both amp ratings, but he confirmed with the part number that the Bosch ALT was indeed 95 AMP. Unless he lied. He is replacing today anyway no charge. Woo hoo!
Still, I'd feel bad if I ruined it and gypped one of the SVX brethren out of a good and hard to find alternator.

4. Doug, can you confirm that the BOSCH is only an 80 AMP unit?
Then I will now the dude lied or made a mistake.

I will test today's new one first before installing. Hopefully the testing machine at PB and AZ will show amperage along with voltage output.
After I know it works I will do the wire mod for more solid grounding.

Thanks again,
Biz
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  #9  
Old 01-06-2004, 10:19 AM
Bizarre Bizarre is offline
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Snooped the www.boschusa.com site.
Seems they only offer the 95 amp unit. Oddly enough I see the words: REMAN & MITUSBISHI. Guess it is rebuilt and not "new".
Part Number Description
AL4328X Reman Alternator MITSUBISHI; Amps: 95; Internal Regulator; 12V; Clock-Wise Rotation

This matches the part number on my unit. So it was the 95AMP.
Could crappy grounding have killed it? I think it is grounded thru its own frame at the mounting points.
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  #10  
Old 01-06-2004, 11:42 AM
alacrity024
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uh.. just a thought..

check the crankshaft pulley (it's the big one that drives all the belts)

have someone turn the steering wheel while the car is running.. if you notice the belts slowing down or stopping while the center of the crank pulley spins freely, you've found the problem..

-adam
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  #11  
Old 01-06-2004, 12:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by Bizarre
Doug, can you confirm that the BOSCH is only an 80 AMP unit?
Then I will now the dude lied or made a mistake.
A little over a year ago, I was helping a fellow SVX with a dead alternator and we went to several different places to find a suitable replacement and that figure just stuck in my memory banks.

Doug
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  #12  
Old 01-06-2004, 09:25 PM
Bizarre Bizarre is offline
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Good news all. New alternator works fine so far.
This time I:
1. charged the battery completely (this was the ALT killer I'm sure)
2. tightened the belt within .16 to .20 for PS/ALT
3. tightened the belt within .24 ~ for FLY/AC
4. cleaned off all negative ground connections, they were filthy.

Unfortunately, I think my PS pump or reservoir has a problem.
I get a nice whine whenever I start the car or accelerate.
Even after warmup.

Crap. New gremlin to chase down. Doesn't help that I overfilled the PS reservoir. PS fluid was bubbling out after the SVX came to a comfy stop in my garage. I lowered the level to .75 full (HOT) so no more bubbling, but I still have the perpetual whining.

I took a pipe to my ear and listened. Sounds a little crunchy inside so PS bearing or something else may be shot. D'oh.

Anyhoo... I will let you all know if the 2nd ALT dies.
Keep them fingers crossed.

Biz
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  #13  
Old 01-15-2004, 08:09 AM
mtpbarry
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Question Alternators

OK, i've been reading the post about alternators, have found out that the SVX should put out 100 amps, are their any other models that have the same output?
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  #14  
Old 01-15-2004, 09:18 AM
nextcubepro
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Quote:
Originally posted by alacrity024
uh.. just a thought..

check the crankshaft pulley (it's the big one that drives all the belts)

have someone turn the steering wheel while the car is running.. if you notice the belts slowing down or stopping while the center of the crank pulley spins freely, you've found the problem..

-adam
I have a slightly different take on this.

My friend had the same problem...bad alt, replaced it, and the next day, she started it up. Right when she put it in drive and revved to go, those lights came on. We turned off everything in the car, except the engine, and drove it to pep boys where she had it done. Turned out the alt/PS belt was too tight, and snapped.

I don't mean to seem so simple and stupid about this, but are both belts there and turning while the car is running?

(P.S. - My SVX has the original alt in it with a 2yo 800 CCA battery (according to the reciept I got with the car...a Costco one, none the less lol). In the sub zero temps in the city, it starts and runs fine (knock wood...). But I can verify that the stock alt is weak for the car. While I was driving in the NYC blizard in mid december, with front and rear wipers on, 80 watt aftermarket low beams and 55 watt fog lights on, my stereo, and the defroster on medium heat, at a stoplight, my usual 550 RPM idle crept up to about 800, i'm guessing to run the alt harder to make more juice. No adverse driving effects or stalling or anything, but...Is that a normal occuracnce and has anyone else seen this happen? Does it mean my alt is on its way out, even though I was using all those accessories at the same time in 5 degree weather?)
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  #15  
Old 06-28-2004, 10:29 AM
Bizarre Bizarre is offline
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Angry Alternator died... again

Well after six months alternator number 2 died.

Gonna bring it back to the shop hopefully for a refud/replacement.
Anyone know the warranty perioid on Bosch alternators?

AL4328X Reman Alternator MITSUBISHI; Amps: 95; Internal Regulator; 12V; Clock-Wise Rotation

Biz
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