Well, it seems that corrosion was the culprit.I cleaned (sanded) all the contacts with a dremel to and from the battery, replaced the battery clamps, and dremeled the contacts to the alternator. Everything seems to be great. The alternator did blow a diode, but I got it warrantied (again)...

Only to solve the problem. I'm tired of going through alternators (3rd one in 7 months) and The auto parts guys are probably not gonna be happy if i have to trade in another one ;)

Simple Question:Can bad connections on the battery, (corroded, non-tight, greasy, etc) or bad connection at the alternator, cause an alternator to overheat, or otherwise kill itself?If you want to be more elaborate, what were the symptoms you had, that were direct result of the above...

I'll check it out, thanks for the reply.

The motormounts are relatively new poly's. Good idea though.

I'm pretty sure it is, they ohm the same.- Andrew

The Coil pack or transistor pack could be the culprit.

I am having a problem with a low rpm thump, it doesn't feel like the driveshaft is moving around.It happens at below 3200 rpm. Has anybody had a problem with this? What caused it?totally stock 1G awd.- Andrew

The w255 was giving me problems... it wouldn't seal enough to keep good pressure.... so i put my stock one back in until i can get a new rubber support (correct one) for it.Thanks for the help though.The car screams now... hopefully with that w255 back in it will pull some low 13's with...

I've got a 92 TSi. I flipped my other one and put the engine into this new one.I have checked the timing, replaced the fuel filter, checked the MAS harness connection, and pressure tested the intake (which should show vacuum leaks too.)I drove the car around for a while, and it...

Clogged Hydraulic Lifter?

Have you checked that alternator yet?

You do realize I was only supporting your statement? That is why I said "THIS IS." that means.. you were right. I was refering to the fact htat most people skip over the tensioning of the pullley... they instead think the auto tensioner should make up for it.In no way does my statement...

This is how you TENSION a timing belt... the auto-tensioner should not be what creates the tension, it should only hold it steady. It's used during RPM changes so the timing belt doesn't get slack when the crank pulls one way or another. 2 ft of rubber is going to have some slack. That is...

yup. That could be a helluva a lot of late spark :)

might be as simple as a freaking out alternator... that would explain the idiot lights fade in, low power at the rang where you need the most spark, etc... I'd get that tested also.

if you didn't tension it right, and that's why it's now some teeth off.. replace the belt.. don't try to put a stretched belt back on. It'll just happen again, then blow your auto tensioner too.

I drive hard roads to work and back and while out cruising. The state I (unfortunately) live in has some of the worst roads in the country. I'd like to have nice rims, but the fact that they will get bent and torn up if I drive them everyday.Does anybody have suggestions on rims that can...

really?! so maybe the 710 cap really is OIL!

sounds like a broken thermostat.. when it breaks it flushes all the coolant directly to the radiator instead of keeping a constant temp and flushing when it gets past the normal operation temperature.It'll take you 15 minutes to check.Hope it works.

take the starter off and take it to orielly's to get tested.. it'll take a half an hour. and it's FREEEEEEE

I have no ABS (thank god) a sunroof and no leather and an LSD.Nothing cooler than openin the door and seein that nice yellow sticker ;)

Luckily we aren't in switzerland. Imagine what carabue do to DSMs :eek:

you have to have a coil because 12v's does not have enough electromotive force to jump that spark plug gap.

too bad it was out of season.:D

I (did) have a May '92 6bolt/4bolt Only a few weeks before they switched....Anybody else out there have one of these rare ones? :)

Okay.. I'm gonna try to explain this so that nobody goes and screws up their car... and just so you know how bad of an idea this is most of the time.First of all... there are two methods...Method 1:Parts Involved: 1 Spark Wires (2 for duals) 1 Spark Plugs (2 for duals) 1 Spark...

Also, with a bad alternator, your coolant light will be the brightest, your oil light will be slightly lit and your brake light might be slightly lit (don't ask me why)Might check to see if your alternator belt is slipping after you check the SENSOR on the overflow tank.

Wastegates can do that. Either the arm could be off (easy to leave that pin out since you just rebuilt it), the wastegate could have a hole in the seat, or the wastegate actuator isn't getting the right pressure (maybe even malfunctioning.)

Have you checked for shaft play yet? That would be the first step. Also, punctuation is always good! :)Also, if you have surgeons locking tweezers, it makes it a lot easier to feel shaft play. (don't push to hard.)Make sure it spins freely. Also, it could be a major leak that does...

I've never seen em skip at the cam gears.. has anybody else?

yes. anytime your car isn't running at optimum (not getting hte horsepower per gallon of gas it should be) then it is definitely going to affect your mileage.

I agree it sounds bad at low rpm's in that file.. it's the mic compensating for it. It has almost no high tones at low rpms and is reallllly rumbly.Yeah, straight through exhausts that don't have anything to fight (3" to 2.5" mandrel, no cat.) are going to have a problem with that crackle...

it's like an mp3 but higher quality. use winamp.Tell me what you think.

Someday i want to repaint it hunter-green (like those REALLY dark pearl green mustangs) with a dark pearl graphite on the front section that modestly clouds into the green.Something that you don't just go.. HEY LOOK AT ME, but a paint job you can just respect and say.. niiiiice. :)

match up the the cam gears so that the pins are at 12 o'clock and the notches are pointing at each other (3 and 9). then look at the crank pulley, see if the notch on it is at the TDC mark (meaning top dead center)

a super turbo deisel truck muffler ($30) mounted behind the racepipe with dual mandrels after that gave me that growl.Here's what my exhaust sounds like (i was doing donuts in the snow.) It hit 7000 so you get to hear the whole range. Remember, this was off a digicam, there's a lot of low...

I've had this happen twice on friends cars.It sounds EXACTLY like timing skip. It should idle most of the time, and at the most, die at stop signs. maybe even idle surge. It will also tend to make a crap load of volume but less power at the top.it will continue to keep skipping until...

you'd think dsm people are accident prone :P

Did you insurance company find out? what will they do? I ask because I recently totalled my dsm with liability only... i don't wanna get stuck with another price hike.

Just a note on long drying... some of those long drying paints are an epoxy that will bond better.. that's why duplicolor is just so damn good :D