Killing alternators /diodes

[DSMcamaro]

91 Eagle Talon turbo front wheel drive.

I'm on my 3rd Advance auto parts alternator (within a week) and something keeps killing the diodes apparently. The alternator works fine for a while putting out 14.55 volts, but the 3 dash lights to symbol a bad alternator flicker on for just a 1/2 second when I turn my headlights on. It also does it when I hit the switch just for the headlight to pop-up. Any ideas?

 

[silver bullit]

Fuses, wires, exhaust leaks around the alternator check em.

 

[iluvmy4g63]

funny. i had same problem. tried everything. what helped was to make a good grounding kit for the car.or just one from your alternator to the frame of car. it helped me can't promise for you. look in my post there was a lot of feed back for this topic.

 

[DSMcamaro]

So you just ran a ground wire from the frame to the alternator? Did you add other grounds as well?

 

[Defiant]

Not really much information:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/problem-diagnosis/258248-6-alternators-2-years.html

 

[iluvmy4g63]

So you just ran a ground wire from the frame to the alternator? Did you add other grounds as well?

yea after i noticed that i could make a good ground kit with stuff i could get from my work. try to get some thick 6 or 8 gauge wire that an electrian would have. then go to home depot and look for thing called a bus-bar. it is a gounder plate that you can mount to the fire wall of your car. i did two on the head one on the coil pack and one on the alti,

 

[luv2rallye]

Make sure the PS isn't leaking onto the alt. It kills them every time.

 

[iluvmy4g63]

Make sure the PS isn't leaking onto the alt. It kills them every time.

good point. i've heard of this before. its common problem.

 

[DSMcamaro]

So i thought i had it figure out. I ran a ground wire to the frame from the alternator and the car seemed fine for over two week. But today after having a little fun with it and revving to about 5500 in 3rd, the damn lights came on again!!!! thats when it occured to me that the last time it happened I was doing a pull against and SRT4. So it seems to be an RPM issue. Any ideas?

 

[92spoolin']

stop buying advance alternators will help out the problem a lot. I know its hard to get away from because they have lifetime replacement but save yourself the headache and buy a real one or do the saturn swap. I've gotten to the point where I can get it out and replaced in about 15 minutes. worldwide alternators are ftl.

 

[luv2rallye]

So i thought i had it figure out. I ran a ground wire to the frame from the alternator and the car seemed fine for over two week. But today after having a little fun with it and revving to about 5500 in 3rd, the damn lights came on again!!!! thats when it occured to me that the last time it happened I was doing a pull against and SRT4. So it seems to be an RPM issue. Any ideas?

Belt tension tight enough or missing lower heat shield?
The alt is grounded through it's case to the engine so adding a ground wire to it will do nothing. However making sure you have clean tight negtive battery cable connections to BOTH the body and starter mounting bolt (engine) is crucial.

 

[DSMcamaro]

tension on the belt was fine. I do not have my 02housing heat shield on the car but haven't for the past couple years. Alternator issue has only been happening the past month. I re-ran a ground to the body but not the starter mount, I assumed that cable was good, but who knows, guess I should run a ground there too.

stop buying advance alternators will help out the problem a lot. I know its hard to get away from because they have lifetime replacement but save yourself the headache and buy a real one or do the saturn swap. I've gotten to the point where I can get it out and replaced in about 15 minutes. worldwide alternators are ftl.

More like 1 time replacement. There lifetime is BS. You only get ONE replacement in a lifetime. The only reason I was able to get more than one replaced it because he first time they game me one it was 65amp and the second one they gave me was 75 amp (automatic) alternator. I put on a new negative battery terminal, cleaned up all existing ground wire connections, ran 2 new ground wires, and said F-you to advance auto parts. now i'm crossing my fingers.

 

[luv2rallye]

I agree with 92 spoolin, get a different brand alt. Also heat affects different brands of alts differently so that missing heat shield may have brought it out. Auto store alts are the worst place to buy them for quality. Price is low but what good is free replacement when you have to keep bringing it back and install it yourself again and again and again? The best place for alts is at a shop that repairs alts/starters (look in yellow pages). They are the ones dealers/shops bring their alts to. You can get a top quality rebuilt alt for same price as auto store. Or you can have them fix your old one or buy a real new one (not rebuilt). And they warranty everything they do. I've gotten all mine there for 40 yrs and never a single problem! I hear endless auto store brand new alt problems on Tuners every day (just search and you'll see).

 

[T9S1i]

1st off, they should honor the warranty, tell them they keep giving you faulty alternators, and you arent trying to hustle them for new alternators and taking alternators on and off of your car isnt your hobby.

2nd, do you have your heat shields on your exhaust? If not, then this is the problem, i know it sounds crazy, but ive witnessed at least 4 dsm's kill alternator after alternator when they dont have an exhaust heat shild on, then when they put it on, magically their alternator works. So try that out.

 

[DSMcamaro]

After I put the last one, I started the car, the dash lights went out and all seemed fine. I drove the car a half mile down the road, and the damn lights came on again. So its not a heat issue. Checked the battery voltage with a volt meter before I left and it was 14.3, when I came back it was 12.2 I'm also 95% positive i'm not just getting bad alternators, something must be killing them. ECU? starter? Its not a bad ground or power steering pump because that doesn't leak. I'm getting an alternator rebuilt at a local electric shop today/tomorrow and doing some more investigating on my car. Thanks for all the input so far everyone, I'll update as things develop.

2nd, do you have your heat shields on your exhaust? If not, then this is the problem, i know it sounds crazy, but ive witnessed at least 4 dsm's kill alternator after alternator when they dont have an exhaust heat shild on, then when they put it on, magically their alternator works. So try that out.

I have the factory upper exhaust manifold heat shield and that is it.

 

[Auto RS T]

How does the 80 AMP "bolt in" fusible link look inside the passenger side fuse box?

A friend had a similar problem earlier this year. Went through a few batteries and alternators. That fuse "looked" good but really wasn't. Give it a shot.

 

[T9S1i]

After I put the last one, I started the car, the dash lights went out and all seemed fine. I drove the car a half mile down the road, and the damn lights came on again. So its not a heat issue. Checked the battery voltage with a volt meter before I left and it was 14.3, when I came back it was 12.2 I'm also 95% positive i'm not just getting bad alternators, something must be killing them. ECU? starter? Its not a bad ground or power steering pump because that doesn't leak. I'm getting an alternator rebuilt at a local electric shop today/tomorrow and doing some more investigating on my car. Thanks for all the input so far everyone, I'll update as things develop.


I have the factory upper exhaust manifold heat shield and that is it.

nope, you need the one inbetween the o2housing/dp and ps pump and alternator. If you've thrown it away look into something new, or some exhaust wrap. I can almost guarantee this is the problem.

 

[DSMcamaro]

I drove it a half a mile and it failed and you think its a heat issue? My EGT wasn't even above 700 degrees.

PS, i still have the heat shield for the PS pump on and like I stated earlier, I haven't had the lower heat shield on for atleast 2 years. I still have it around somewhere I think so I will put it back on just becuase.

 

[estoyaqui30]

Does anyone know if the "saturn swap" will work on a 2G (1999 GSX)? I was just looking at the link to the conversion and I am sure that was done on a 1G. I am always having voltage issues 12.1vdc at idle...once the car is warmed up. and I am on the 3rd alternator, the 1st and 3rd from the Mitsu dealer and the 2nd on from some crappy "alterstart"

Thanks

 

[DSMcamaro]

Well here is where I am at. I reinstalled my old 02 housing heat shield, put in a new battery even though my old one tested fine, and put in another alternator. I took it for a test run and brought it up over 6K RPM's to make sure they wouldn't kill it. The lights on the dash however did still flicker on whenever my pop-up headlights went up. So for the next few days or however long, i'm going to leave them up and see if the problem continues. I'm hoping my problem is narrowed down to a headlight switch or a wire getting pinched somewhere.

 

[DSMcamaro]

1GA FTL. Pop up headlights cause problems.

 

[Auto RS T]

Way to track it down. Make sure you inspect the harness closely and find every damaged wire. Good hunting.