2G coolant hose pulled off top of radiator, now failed alternator

[Spades]

the coolant hose on the top of the radiator pulled off on my 2g gst. Car didnt even get that hot before i caught it. Pulled over and reinstalled the hose and cranked it tighter, filled it back up and everything is fine there. But now the after effect, the spray of coolant got to the alternator, belt was squeeling which what i thought was just a slipping wet belt, but it was actually the alternator struggling to produce voltage. So i kept driving thinking the belt would dry up and the squeeling would stop... Well the squeeling stopped, but it looks like it stopped because the alternator is no longer charging. I noticed the power windows were slow to roll up. I made the drive home about 20 mins away, shut off the car and tried to restart and its completely dead. Checked battery voltage and its only 9.3V. I gave the battery a 2-hour charge and the battery is back up to 12.2V and the car started up fine. But with the engine running its only showing battery voltage of 12.2V, so looks like my alternator is done. My concern is, what if the source of the problem isnt the alternator, and if i install another alternator that it may kill the new one. How and what can i test to verify before i load up a new alternator and possibly destroy it?

Also, how the heck did i make it home when the battery was only 9V and the alternator had failed?

 

[Zero6391]

well the battery wouldn't have lasted much longer after that if you kept driving it but anyways if the altenator fuse is good then I wouldn't worry about anything else. another problem with the 4g63 motors is sometimes the power steering pump leaks and drips on the altenator causing it to fail as well. if it was a short somewhere the the fuse would be blown

 

[XiholdtrueX]

^ second that, I would just make sure there is no oil leaks and no corrosion on any wires and you should be good with a new alternator

 

[Spades]

Fuse is not blown, no leaks or corrosion. Car drove perfect before the hose let go, I can give the battery a charge and still drive it around, just not charging. I will locate an alternator soon and hope for the best

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Don't over think it. Go to autozone or whoever and they can test it for ya.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Ya don't kill the battery driving without the alt charging properly. Simple to test take a volt meter and with the car running check the battery and see it's it's at 14 if not your alt is prob fried. You can also check the power output at the alt to be sure.

 

[Spades]

Yes i already did the volt meter test, engine running is 12.2V which tells me alternator is fried. What im worried about is when i install a new alternator and if something else is still wet and drawing a lot of current, then my new alternator will also fail

 

[Zero6391]

just make sure nothing is dripping on the alternator and ull be fine. the alternator is fused so itll protect it externally and if anything happens u can take it back to the store and say hey this part didn't work out of the box and get a replacement for free. alts usually have a 90 day warranty

 

[Carter Reiss]

I have been having the exact same problem lately. I have been through 3 alternators in about a month, and I have no idea what is frying them. Have you figured out the problem yet? If so, please let me know.

 

[rolltidero]

I have been having the exact same problem lately. I have been through 3 alternators in about a month, and I have no idea what is frying them. Have you figured out the problem yet? If so, please let me know.

Like stated above, make sure nothing is dripping on you alternator. I had a crack in my valve cover that was dripping oil all the way down to the top of my alternator and eventually fried one of them. After that, make sure there is nothing shorting out, I had an LED break while installing new bulbs into my HVAC and it shorted against the board on the back and fried another alternator. You can also check the ground wires for the fuse box which are behind the passenger fender. Once you take the fender off, should be pretty obvious where they are. But probably the easiest thing to check is to make sure the plug is all the way into the alternator. After I had my tie rods replaced mine wasn't seated all the way and caused the alternator not to charge. Literally just touched it and it clicked into place and ran fine. Good luck finding you issue.

 

[PlanZero]

^ just to add to this, the power steering pump where the line connects starts to leak through the o ring, the water pipe o ring where it meets the water pump (often you can't see it but can feel it drip after a ride), and driving without some type of heat shield, at least the lower, will also cause the alt to "fry"
Make sure when you replace it you upgrade to 90 amp (used on galants and Canadian dsms, most parts stores carry this option) as the stocker is weak especially if you have aftermarket electronics and such.