Young Mr.Warman, another stumper for you.....Transmission and ABS, alternator

Me too. I would have bet that some heavier electronics would have done
nicely to keep things in line...and a lot cheaper too.

"AZGuy" > wrote in message
...
| On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 02:39:42 GMT, "Jim Warman"
| > wrote:
|
| >Yep... they've been around since 04 for sure and I think we'll start
seeing
| >more of them. It's designed to help eliminate any NVH concerns... the
| >eternal quest to have the smothest, quietest cars on the road..... no
matter
| >how complicated they get. You have to admit that it's a pretty nifty
deal.
| >
|
|
| Lucky for me I didn't bet a lunch on what it was.....Seems like it's
| one more thing to break....
|
| >
| >"AZGuy" > wrote in message
| .. .
| >> Jim, speaking of alternators, I got a new crown Vic PI at work and the
| >> alternator has an over-running clutch on the pulley. Have you seen
| >> that on anything else? If so, any idea why they felt it was necessary?
| >> It puts out 125 amps at 800 rpm. We've put aftermarket super output
| >> alternators on other stuff and none of them ever had this clutch on
| >> them.
| >>
| >>
| >
|
| --
| Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:
|
| "What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the
| establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . .
| Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of
| the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order
| to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House
| of Representatives, August 17, 1789

I have seen one weird alternator related problem that might
be worth investigation. Years ago I had an alternator that
lost one of the diodes in the rectifier bridge. This caused
some weird vibrations and some strange growling from the
belt (it was a v-belt, not a serpentine). The alternator
would charge the battery if you ran at speed, but it was
"weak" at low speeds.

Ed

AZGuy wrote:
>
> My 92 sort of did that (power flickered and voltmeter dropped WAY
> down) when it was a couple years old. Just twice. Never figured out
> what it was and it stopped doing it. Almost like there was a massive
> short in something that pulled the voltage so low there wasn't even
> enough power to keep the engine running. Yet nothing burned up, no
> fuses blew, no wires melted. Maybe some sort of internal short in the
> alternator?? How consistently is yours doing this?? Consistent
> enough that you could simply disconnect the alternator wires and drive
> it for an hour or two and see if it still happens?
>
> On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:45:23 GMT,
> (barrythedude - remove yer HAT and COAT to reply) wrote:
>
> >I can get my hands dirty, I am married after all.....Ok, wrong
> >point...I have taken the belt off, and nothing seems amiss. The
> >compressor for the AC is NOT engaged when this happens, but there is a
> >small clue...the lights sometimes have a small (extremely small)
> >flicker, and 5-times out of ten, this triggers the low discharge,
> >squeal. Something (alt or regulator) is thinking something needs a lot
> >of juice or something.... If I can fix all these computers tonight, I
> >plan on going to see if the new regulator I bought fixes the
> >problem.... I bought wilson instead of dixie, I hope this is a good
> >choice......
> >On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 19:30:19 GMT, "Jim Warman"
> > wrote:
> >
> >>No mystery... all the classic signs of a slipping belt. As AZGUY says, it
> >>could be one of the front engine accessories trying to pile up but I
> >>wouldn't make book on it being the alternator - it is very rare to see
> >>bearing problems on Fords alternators. More common might be the AC clutch
> >>bearing or the compressor itself. Anything... absolutely anything that
> >>causes the alternator to spin too slow will cause a low charge or discharge
> >>condition. That your belt is squealing is a sign that something is causing
> >>the belt to slip and slipping belts are turning something slower than t's
> >>supposed to.
> >>
> >>At this point in time, your low charge indication is nothing more than a
> >>symptom and has a very slim chance, indeed, of being a cause.
> >>
> >>There are some pointers cast into the tensioner.... two on one side of the
> >>swivel to indicate the "operating range" and a single pointer on the other
> >>side of the swivel - this single pointer should be between the other two.
> >>
> >>We can talk about this kind of stuff all day but nothing is going to get
> >>accomplished until someone, somewhere gets their hands dirty...
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
> --
> Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:
>
> "What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the
> establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . .
> Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of
> the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order
> to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House
> of Representatives, August 17, 1789

I'm surprised that there are still stores that accept returns on electrical
parts...... I'm even more surprised that people shop there. Imagine..... Joe
Doofus has a problem in his car..... the framistan is fried...... he
installs a new framistan from "Arts Eager to please parts". JDs problem
fries the new framsitan. JD takes the newly pooched part back to Arts and,
in frustration, takes his car to the shop (where the framistan is replaced
after the initial problem is fixed). Billy-Joe Beergut has a pooched
framistan with no other problems. He picks a new one up at Arts and that
doesn't fix his problem...... in frustration, he returns the already faulty
framsitan and takes his car to the shop..........

Seriously, there are ramifications to the process and, in the end, Art is
the guy that's going to get shafted... since he's such a nice guy, it will
be a loss to the community. I haven't seen a store that will accept
electrical returns PERIOD for a long time. You're lucky....


"barrythedude - remove yer HAT and COAT to reply"
> wrote in message
...
> yes if I disconnect the alt, it discharges the same as the problem,
> that is why I bought a voltage reg yesterday. Hope to put it on
> tonight, even though the jobber said "I just dont sell them, they
> always come back, and its always the alternator" But 226 .00 as
> opposed to 12.00? hmm, let me think.............
> On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 20:35:15 -0700, AZGuy > wrote:
>
>>My 92 sort of did that (power flickered and voltmeter dropped WAY
>>down) when it was a couple years old. Just twice. Never figured out
>>what it was and it stopped doing it. Almost like there was a massive
>>short in something that pulled the voltage so low there wasn't even
>>enough power to keep the engine running. Yet nothing burned up, no
>>fuses blew, no wires melted. Maybe some sort of internal short in the
>>alternator?? How consistently is yours doing this?? Consistent
>>enough that you could simply disconnect the alternator wires and drive
>>it for an hour or two and see if it still happens?
>>
>>
>>On Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:45:23 GMT,
>>(barrythedude - remove yer HAT and COAT to reply) wrote:
>>
>>>I can get my hands dirty, I am married after all.....Ok, wrong
>>>point...I have taken the belt off, and nothing seems amiss. The
>>>compressor for the AC is NOT engaged when this happens, but there is a
>>>small clue...the lights sometimes have a small (extremely small)
>>>flicker, and 5-times out of ten, this triggers the low discharge,
>>>squeal. Something (alt or regulator) is thinking something needs a lot
>>>of juice or something.... If I can fix all these computers tonight, I
>>>plan on going to see if the new regulator I bought fixes the
>>>problem.... I bought wilson instead of dixie, I hope this is a good
>>>choice......
>>>On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 19:30:19 GMT, "Jim Warman"
> wrote:
>>>
>>>>No mystery... all the classic signs of a slipping belt. As AZGUY says,
>>>>it
>>>>could be one of the front engine accessories trying to pile up but I
>>>>wouldn't make book on it being the alternator - it is very rare to see
>>>>bearing problems on Fords alternators. More common might be the AC
>>>>clutch
>>>>bearing or the compressor itself. Anything... absolutely anything that
>>>>causes the alternator to spin too slow will cause a low charge or
>>>>discharge
>>>>condition. That your belt is squealing is a sign that something is
>>>>causing
>>>>the belt to slip and slipping belts are turning something slower than
>>>>t's
>>>>supposed to.
>>>>
>>>>At this point in time, your low charge indication is nothing more than a
>>>>symptom and has a very slim chance, indeed, of being a cause.
>>>>
>>>>There are some pointers cast into the tensioner.... two on one side of
>>>>the
>>>>swivel to indicate the "operating range" and a single pointer on the
>>>>other
>>>>side of the swivel - this single pointer should be between the other
>>>>two.
>>>>
>>>>We can talk about this kind of stuff all day but nothing is going to get
>>>>accomplished until someone, somewhere gets their hands dirty...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>--
>>Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:
>>
>>"What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the
>>establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . .
>>Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of
>>the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order
>>to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House
>>of Representatives, August 17, 1789
>