help! alternator died, replaced, but now i get NO Electricity!!

[chrisfrye]

Okay so here's what happened. Alternator took a crap on me on the road, jumped my car a couple times to make sure it wasn't charging and it would die with the battery disconnected. So i replaced the alternator. Right after i hooked everything back up, the last thing was the negative battery terminal. I then started hearing a faint "clicking" noise from underneath the relay box, it slowly faded away and died as i was sure i had no battery power. I hooked the jumper cables up to get it going, and I get no electricity. I've had several batteries be dead for a long time but always come backup if not for a minute with a jump. It's a rebuilt alternator from autozone. I actually replaced the alternator with a rebuilt about 2 months/2k miles ago. And replaced the battery with a brand new one. I checked out the main fusible links on the positive terminal, and they we're all good. I pulled the relay's in the relay box and they were getting voltage. The main 80a alternator fuse looks clean and not fried, but i havent gotten the chance to take it out(as it seems it must be bolted in or something). I have no clue on this. Should i just start replacing relays and fuses? I don't know. help me! my car keeps breaking down on me, hundreds of miles from my home and it's always some stupid little thing i know. One more thing to note, whichi dont believe is of releavance but it confused me. On my alternator i have the main plug, then i have the positive lead which goes under a nut on the back. There is a very small(maybe 6mm) black bolt screwed into the back of the alternator, but sticking out, like maybe something goes there? I dont remember a ground wire or anything going there, maybe they just threw some screws in there to confuse me i dont know.. IF you could tell me some electrical tests or something i can do to try to pinpoint this i would be most greatful. thank you guys.

 

[chrisfrye]

haha no one has any advice? i thought there were a bunch of master mechanics in here. or maybe getting no electricity isnt a serious enough issue. anyways, i charged my battery, checked all my fuses and relays, checked my grounds, and they were all gold. but i still cant get juice to my car. maybe i'll have to tow it to the dealership if no one else has any advice.. if you do,please let me know!!
thanks

 

[Jason84]

whats your voltage at on startup?

dsm alts can die alot... i went through like 3-4 of them in about a 2 month period... alot of times you will go through them in summer because of the high heat and if you have a stereo or something in there bumping it doesnt help at all. ive blown a couple in winter to but that was with a stereo..

 

[TotalEclipse112]

Maybe you should step up the brand of alternator, it sounds like one of the diodes in the rectifier bridge is bad, the alternator is actually drawing current. If its not that then there is a defenite parasidic draw somewhere in your eletrical system. Alternators don't just die for no reason, or because of the heat, there is usually a problem somewhere that causes it.

 

['98 AWD DSM]

Get a brand name one. I went through a couple of rebuilds they suck, and I read on here that the ones from autozone are even worse. I did the same thing as you. Replaced the altinator and battery and I still was not getting a charge to the battery. I ended up just getting a new altinator and it was good to go.

 

[jasoncitrano]

I blew out 3 alternators before i realized that my oil cap was leaking into my valve cover which was leaking through the weep hole which was leaking into my alternator which was KILLING my alternators. New oil cap and problem solved.

 

[pradamike]

i am on the 4th alternator and i had the same oil cap problem there was oil everywhere from it and it leaked down to my alternator and shorted it out

 

[Mr4G]

Check your oil cap and the power steering pump. both could be leaking onto the alternator.

 

[Livid]

Try unhooking the power cable from the alternator. Then try hooking up the negative battery terminal again and see if you still hear that clicking noise. Next try pulling the alternator fuse, and turn your key to the on position, see if you have any power at all inside the car. You can even try this while hooking it up to a battery charger. If you do have power then most likely the alternator or the power going to the alternator has a dead short, which is draining the battery and possibly grounding out to the block causing the relay popping noise you are hearing.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

Okay so here's what happened. Alternator took a crap on me on the road, jumped my car a couple times to make sure it wasn't charging and it would die with the battery disconnected. So i replaced the alternator. Right after i hooked everything back up, the last thing was the negative battery terminal. I then started hearing a faint "clicking" noise from underneath the relay box, it slowly faded away and died as i was sure i had no battery power. I hooked the jumper cables up to get it going, and I get no electricity. I've had several batteries be dead for a long time but always come backup if not for a minute with a jump. It's a rebuilt alternator from autozone. I actually replaced the alternator with a rebuilt about 2 months/2k miles ago. And replaced the battery with a brand new one. I checked out the main fusible links on the positive terminal, and they we're all good. I pulled the relay's in the relay box and they were getting voltage. The main 80a alternator fuse looks clean and not fried, but i havent gotten the chance to take it out(as it seems it must be bolted in or something). I have no clue on this. Should i just start replacing relays and fuses? I don't know. help me! my car keeps breaking down on me, hundreds of miles from my home and it's always some stupid little thing i know. One more thing to note, whichi dont believe is of releavance but it confused me. On my alternator i have the main plug, then i have the positive lead which goes under a nut on the back. There is a very small(maybe 6mm) black bolt screwed into the back of the alternator, but sticking out, like maybe something goes there? I dont remember a ground wire or anything going there, maybe they just threw some screws in there to confuse me i dont know.. IF you could tell me some electrical tests or something i can do to try to pinpoint this i would be most greatful. thank you guys.

First, give me some voltage readings from various places. At the battery, at the output post of the alternator, at the main post on the starter. Check your fuses. ALL of them. Do not look at them. Use a voltmeter. When you have done this, post your voltage findings. Use a digital multimeter which can be purchased at any parts house or Radio Shack.

I will look and then give you some suggestions.

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

haha no one has any advice? i thought there were a bunch of master mechanics in here. or maybe getting no electricity isnt a serious enough issue. anyways, i charged my battery, checked all my fuses and relays, checked my grounds, and they were all gold. but i still cant get juice to my car. maybe i'll have to tow it to the dealership if no one else has any advice.. if you do,please let me know!!
thanks

Bump:

We can only give exacting advice when we have exacting information. I live in Missouri which is quite a ways away. You have to give some actual readings taken at some actual places.

Check the input to the solenoid on the starter with someone attempting to crank the engine. It's the little post. Do you have voltage there? I need to know these things.

Do the checks and post.

 

[DROOPY209]

Dont feel bad.....I went through 11 alternators from Autozone in less then 3 months.

They come out bad ALL the time....You just have to keep your fingers crossed and hope you get a good alternator.....

 

[flyboy346205]

Ok, I had an electronic problem a few months ago with some of this stuff. I'll say that it's not quite the same as yours but close. You need to take out those fuses and check them for resistance. If you're not getting any, that's it. I ended up blowing both my 100A alternator fuse and my 30A ignition fuse. If it's not your fuses, it's most likely a short. If it's that, it's a lot harder to find. Good luck to ya, electrical problems are no fun!!

 

[l3igl3ang]

also did you have the rebuilt Alternator tested before you put it on cause sometimes you can get ahold of some bad rebuilds i had bought a rebuit Alternator along time back for my probe and after spending all day putting it on it turned out to be bad so i get every Alternator i buy now tested before putting them on.